Newcastle took the lead in the fourth minute, Jacob Murphy scoring to finish off a counter-attack after West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen hit the woodwork at the other end, but that was as good as it got for the listless Magpies.
Strikes from Lucas Paqueta, Tomas Soucek either side of an own goal by Sven Botman secured West Ham a 3-1 win and finally gave the club’s long-suffering fans at the London Stadium something to cheer about with a display full of verve and creativity.
The result left them in 18th place in the table on seven points, five behind Newcastle in 13th.
Bowen looked like he had won a penalty in the 11th minute but a lengthy VAR review showed that Malick Thiaw got a touch on the ball and the decision was overturned.
Undeterred, Paqueta levelled for the home side with a dipping drive in the 35th minute, and Nuno Espirito Santo saw his side take a rare lead into the break after Newcastle defender Botman turned the ball into his own net in first-half stoppage time.
Without an away win all season, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe made a triple change at the break, replacing attackers Nick Woltemade and Anthony Gordon and defender Emil Krafth with Jacob Ramsey, William Osula and Fabian Schaer, but it made little difference.
West Ham midfielder Freddie Potts had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside in the build-up but with Newcastle offering so little in attack, it proved not to be costly.
Instead it fell to Soucek to wrap up the three points, bundling the ball home deep into second-half stoppage time to secure West Ham’s first win under Espirito Santo and only their second victory of the season.
For winger Bowen, who played an influential role throughout, the home victory was a sign of things to come.
“I say to the players all the time, we’ve got so much potential in this squad, we have to understand it and go out there and show it,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s our stage. We can do all the tactics in the world, but once we go out, it’s about playing football and doing what we love, and today was a start for that.”