A goal each from strikers Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen and Mark Viduka helped Newcastle to their third consecutive win with a 3-0 demolition of Reading at St James Park.
Martins fired home in the 18th minute after he latched onto Nicky Butt's pass and Owen doubled the advantage two minutes before the break when he lobbed the ball over Hahnemann.
Viduka slotted home from inside the penalty area in the 58th minute after he was found by Habib Beye to round off the scoring.
NEWCASTLE - 38pts
Remaining games: Portsmouth (a), Sunderland (h), West Ham (a), Chelsea (h), Everton (a).
READING - 32
Remaining games: Fulham (h), Arsenal (a), Wigan (a), Tottenham (h), Derby (a).
Fulham were pushed a step closer to relegation after goals from Danny Collins, Michael Chopra and Kenwyne Jones gave Sunderland a 3-1 win at Craven Cottage.
Collins scored on the stroke of half-time with a glancing header and Chopra doubled the advantage with a superb volley in the 54th minute.
David Healy pulled a goal back with a spectacular long-range effort in the 74th minute but Jones restored the Black Cats' two-goal cushion two minutes later with a low shot.
FULHAM - 24
Remaining games: Reading (a), Liverpool (h), Man City (a), Birmingham (h), Portsmouth (a).
SUNDERLAND - 36
Remaining games: Man City (h), Newcastle (a), Middlesbrough (h), Bolton (a), Arsenal (h).
A brace from Gareth Barry helped Aston Villa to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Bolton which meant Wanderers remain four points adrift from safety in 18th place.A close-range header from Barry gave the home side the lead at Villa Park in the ninth minute and Gabriel Agbonlahor made it 2-0 in the 56th minute with a neat finish inside the six-yard box.
Barry collected his second with low shot from 20 yards and Marlon Harewood headed the fourth from a Barry cross in the 85th minute.
BOLTON - 26
Remaining games: West Ham (h), Middlesbrough (a), Tottenham (a), Sunderland (h), Chelsea (a).
Ryan Taylor struck twice to give Wigan boss Steve Bruce a 2-0 win over his former club Birmingham, who were reduced to 10 men.
Taylor dispatched an Antonio Valencia cross from the right in the 15th minute and then bundled the ball home from close range in the 55th minute.
Birmingham captain Damien Johnson was shown a straight red card in the 37th minute for a nasty tackle on Josip Skoko.
WIGAN - 34
Remaining games: Chelsea (a), Tottenham (h), Reading (h), Villa (a), Man Utd (h).
BIRMINGHAM - 30
Remaining games: Everton (h), Aston Villa (a), Liverpool (h), Fulham (a), Blackburn (h).