SATURDAY'S PREMIERSHIP ROUND UP
West Ham 1 Man City 3
Fulham 0 Sunderland 0
Newcastle 3 Liverpool 1
Aston Villa 2 West Brom 1
Stoke 0 Blackpool 1
Everton 0 Wigan 0
Andy Carroll rifled in his 10th goal of the season as Alan Pardew's reign as Newcastle manager began with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool.
The 21-year-old striker blasted home a stunning 25-yard drive in injury-time after Liverpudlians Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton had both scored for the home side.
Dirk Kuyt cancelled out Nolan's 15th-minute opener with a deflected shot five minutes after the break, but Barton and Carroll ensured that fans who had staged protests over Chris Hughton's sacking before and during the game went home with cause for cheer.
Earlier, title-chasing Manchester City moved up to second place in the table with a 3-1 victory at West Ham.
City - without suspended former Hammers frontman Carlos Tevez - went ahead on the half-hour mark when Yaya Toure slammed the ball past Robert Green.
Toure then created the second in the 73rd minute, cutting in from the left and firing a shot against the post that rebounded in off the back of Green.
Substitute Adam Johnson netted a third with nine minutes to go before James Tomkins scored a late consolation for the hosts.
Roberto Mancini's team are now level on points at the top with leaders Arsenal having played a game more, while West Ham remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
Blackpool's fine form continued as DJ Campbell's strike three minutes into the second half earned them a 1-0 win at Stoke.
After Luke Varney and Charlie Adam linked up, Campbell was on hand at the back post to complete the move with a deft finish and the Tangerines have now been beaten only once in seven matches.
Aston Villa eased some of the pressure on their manager Gerard Houllier by claiming a 2-1 victory in the midlands derby with West Brom.
The Frenchman had overseen just one victory in 10 league games going into the contest at Villa Park and his side almost went behind in the first half when Somen Tchoyi's effort hit the crossbar.
Stewart Downing scored soon after, though, and Emile Heskey made it 2-0 in the 80th minute with a stooping header.
Paul Scharner pulled one back for the Baggies with a minute of normal time remaining but the hosts held on to move four points clear of the relegation zone.
Everton remain two points clear of the bottom three after they were held to a goalless draw at Goodison Park by Wigan.
Despite dominating for most of the game, the Toffees failed to make a breakthrough, Tim Cahill going closest with a second-half header which came back off a post.
The result means Wigan stay in 18th place, still only separated by goal difference from 17th-placed Fulham, who also drew 0-0.
The Cottagers played out a stalemate at home against Sunderland, whose defensive problems increased with the loss of Anton Ferdinand early on due to injury.