Kevin Nolan scored a hat trick and Shola Amoebi netted twice Sunday as Newcastle routed 10-man Sunderland 5-1 in the northeast Premier League derby.
Nolan sent the hosts on their way with a 24th-minute opener, doubled the lead eight minutes later and rounded the thrashing off with a close-range effort in the 75th.
Sandwiched between Nolan's final two strikes was a brace from striker Amoebi - one coming from the penalty spot - as Sunderland's defense imploded.
Hopes of a comeback by the visitors disappeared in the 53rd when center back Titus Bramble was dismissed against his former club for a professional foul on Andy Carroll, with Darren Bent's last-minute goal simply a consolation.
The win lifted Newcastle above its rival in the Premier League table and will have been particularly pleasing for manager Chris Hughton, who was handed a vote of confidence by the club's board in midweek after recent media speculation about his future.
''We knew how big the game was, it's three points against our local rivals and we haven't had this opportunity for a couple of years - you can see what it means to the crowd,'' said Hughton, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
''It was a wonderful team performance. It's been a tough week but a very, very good day.''
Nolan dedicated the victory to his manager.
''I'm delighted for the fans but I'm also delighted for Chris - he deserves it after what he's been put through this week,'' he said.
''It is fantastic ... and to score a hat trick will live with me forever.''
Newcastle was put under pressure early on, with Bramble heading a corner wide and midfielder Jordan Henderson rifling a 30-yard strike over the bar.
But the home side, coming into the match on the back of a 4-0 home defeat to Arsenal in the League Cup on Wednesday, turned the game on its head with a quickfire brace by its captain.
The former Bolton midfielder scored his first by hooking an overhead kick into the roof of the net from six yards after the ball landed at his feet following a corner.
Nolan was then on hand to chest down a spectacular but wayward bicycle kick from Carroll, before stroking the ball beyond goalkeeper Simon Mignolet from 12 yards in the 34th.
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce threw on another attacker, recent signing Asamoah Gyan, for midfielder Ahmed El Mohamady in a bid to lift his side but things got worse for the visitors in first-half injury time.
Nedum Onuoha was adjudged to have brought down Jonas Gutierrez in the area and Amoebi slotted home the resulting penalty into the bottom corner to make it 3-0.
Sunderland needed a goal early in the second half to get back in the game but its hopes were virtually extinguished when former Newcastle defender Bramble was sent off for bringing down Carroll just outside the area when the striker was through on goal.
Newcastle coasted for the rest of the game and appeared able to score at will.
Amoebi grabbed his second of the match when he slammed a shot high into the net from 12 yards after Carroll's header had hit the bar and rebounded out.
Nolan completed his hat trick five minutes later, nodding in from a yard (meter) after Amoebi had glanced an outswinging corner across the face of goal.
Bent scored a consolation for the away side on the stroke of full-time but the goal was barely celebrated by the England striker.
