Knowing they could rise up to sixth in the table and having taken to the pitch in front of an impressive Alexander Isak-inspired tifo, the home side made an energetic start in front of a typically raucous St James’ Park crowd.
However, they were caught cold in the 10th minute when Emerson Palmieri’s corner was whipped in with pace, and Tomáš Souček jigged his way free from Lloyd Kelly and planted his free header beyond a well-beaten Nick Pope.
It was a goal that momentarily turned the game on its head, as Newcastle flustered and flapped while the away side were resurgent, but Eddie Howe’s team regrouped to end the first half strongly.
Having defended resiliently, West Ham nearly undid their hard work when Jean-Clair Todibo scuffed his clearance straight to Anthony Gordon on the edge of the six-yard box, but Łukasz Fabiański raced from his line to impressively deny the England winger.
Five minutes before half-time, Isak squandered an excellent chance after great work from Bruno Guimarães, as the Brazilian won the ball back and found the Swedish forward in the box, but the in-form striker could only wildly slash his shot wide of the post.
The second half would bring an air of déjà vu, as Newcastle started brightly before being sucker punched by an incisive West Ham break.
Lucas Paquetá impressively won the ball in midfield before feeding Jared Bown, who nudged it into the path of the onrushing Aaron Wan-Bissaka, allowing the flying full-back to drill his shot low into the corner – just his third goal in over 240 professional appearances.
Having kept just two clean sheets in their previous 28 away league games, it should have been a nervy closing half-hour for the Hammers, but for all their opponents' pressure, there was very little quality in the final third.
With 20 minutes to go, Eddie Howe had already played all his cards after the introductions of Harvey Barnes, the returning Callum Wilson, and Jacob Murphy failed to make a difference in a very tame ending to the game that underlines the level of underperformance from the Magpies.
For the travelling fans, however, the result represents a much-needed boost that could kickstart their faltering season as they look ahead to hosting Arsenal on Saturday.