Almost all of the hype was around West Ham's Argentinian recruits Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano - but it was Newcastle new boys Damien Duff and Obafemi Martins who did the damage.

 Manager Glenn Roeder was left with a major headache, however, as goalkeeper Shay Given's faces a lengthy injury lay-off following a collision with Marlon Harewood. The 30-year-old Irishman was taken off with four minutes remaining and had surgery on Monday to repair a small tear in his lower stomach. Roeder said: 'He is comfortable and will have a short stay in hospital. It's too early to be putting any date on when he'll be expected back.'

The Newcastle boss also had to apologise for winding up West Ham fans near the end by repeatedly waving to the visiting fans. 'I did nothing more than any other opposing manager would do when his own supporters are cheering his name,' he said. "Our supporters are the best in the country. They travel everywhere and are starved of success. They carried on singing my name and I carried on waving to them. I'm not an excitable person. It was completely unintentional."

This was a game that Newcastle dare not lose. Defeat against Aston Villa and Fulham had left them dangerously close to the drop zone and with a tough trip to Liverpool coming up, three points were essential.

Roeder endured a torrid time in his spell at West Ham, suffering a brain operation and relegation before his dismissal at the start of the 2003-2004 season. Now back at Upton Park for the first time, he watched the game amid chants of 'You're the reason we went down' from angry Hammers fans. Not that it bothered him particularly as Newcastle outplayed and outclassed their London opponents to ease to a thoroughly-deserved win.

Nigerian star Martins has looked good in the black and white so far, and on Sunday his influence grew and grew.

Tevez, who had seen a curling free-kick cannon against the Newcastle bar, was replaced at half-time. And five minutes later he saw his international teammate Mascherano at fault when Roeder's men took the lead. The Argentinian came off second best as powerhouse Martins bulldozed his way through midfield and coolly slid the ball through to Damien Duff, whose shot hit the net like an arrow.

The goal deflated West Ham, who in their desperation brought on two key players in their success last season - Yossi Benayoun and Hayden Mullins.

Newcastle, however, topped this by adding extra strength of their own in the form of Antoine Sibierski - a matchwinner on his debut in Europe last Thursday on the same night West Ham lost at home to Palermo. The Frenchman replaced and Hammers boss Alan Pardew's miserable week was soon complete as Newcastle put the game beyond doubt.

The lively Emre broke from midfield before threading a pass between Danny Gabbidon and Anton Ferdinand. With the defensive duo hesitating, Martins raced through to slot the ball low past Roy Carroll and record his first goal in the Newcastle No.9 shirt.