Boss Eddie Howe believes Newcastle proved the doubters wrong after inflicting Aston Villa’s first home league defeat in almost a year.
Fabian Schar’s first-half double and Alex Moreno’s own goal gave the Magpies a deserved 3-1 win in Birmingham.
Ollie Watkins’ 50th Premier League goal for Villa gave the hosts hope but they were unable to mount a comeback.
It was Villa’s first home top-flight defeat since February last year and came after Newcastle had lost six of their last seven league games.
“We answered a lot of questions but it’s just one game and we need to build on the last two results,” said Howe, with Newcastle climbing to seventh.
“It was a big win and performance, the players were really good. It was us of last year.
“We had that good start, it gave us confidence and it was a very good away performance. Now the challenge is to maintain that.
“It’s been frustrating as we’ve done well in the cup competitions away from home but the Premier League seems to have been a different story.
“It was mixed emotions for me because that team is an elite team. The mixed part is that we haven’t seen that for a number of weeks. We looked much like ourselves and we have players coming back.”
Anthony Gordon was denied by Emi Martinez before Schar struck twice in four first-half minutes.
The defender capitalised on poor defending from Douglas Luiz and Ezri Konsa from Kieran Trippier’s corner to open the scoring after 32 minutes.
Soon after Gordon’s shot was deflected over and, when the corner was only half-cleared, the winger’s volley clipped Clement Lenglet, hit the underside of the bar and Schar prodded in.
Newcastle’s dominance continued six minutes after the break when Miguel Almiron – on for Alexander Isak, who came off with a suspected groin injury – robbed Matty Cash and was slipped in by Gordon’s return ball.
His cross reached Jacob Murphy and the winger’s effort went in off the sliding Moreno.
Villa found some fight and after Moussa Diaby had gone close Watkins pulled a goal back with 19 minutes left, firing in Leon Bailey’s cross.
The striker also had a goal disallowed for a tight offside call two minutes later but the hosts could not recover.
Villa remain fourth but will be overhauled by Tottenham if Spurs beat Brentford on Wednesday.
“I spoke with the players and told them I am very proud of them and the supporters after a lot of successful matches here. One loss was always going to come,” said boss Unai Emery, with Villa due to confirm the signing of Morgan Rogers from Middlesbrough in a deal worth £16million.
“We can’t lose our perspective. Winning is better but we are facing seven teams stronger than us, but we have our process. The message is to keep going ahead and try and find comfort in the work that we are doing.
“We are frustrated, a little bit disappointed, but in our perspective we are happy. We weren’t clinical and we conceded more chances and set-pieces than normal.
“We have 43 points. We are going to work and try to keep the distance that we have now and then focus on Saturday (at Sheffield United).”
Keane doubts Man Utd will crack top four under Amorim this season
Roy Keane does not believe Manchester United will get back into the Premier League's top four under Ruben Amorim this season due to a "real lack of quality".
The Red Devils legend was speaking after United started life under the Portuguese with a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town, as Omari Hutchinson cancelled out Marcus Rashford's second-minute opener.
Keane acknowledged Amorim has to be given time to turn things around at Old Trafford, but does not see United cracking the top four this season.
"You have to give the man a chance," Keane told Sky Sports. "But the threat going forward, it's a huge problem for Man Utd. It's not good enough.
"Do I believe they have the quality to get them back to top four? Absolutely not. The evidence is not there. It's the same old stuff. Predictable and a real lack of quality."
United created 0.9 xG compared to Ipswich's 1.75 and had fewer shots on target (four) compared to Ipswich (six) at Portman Road.
They did have more touches in the opposition box (16 to 11) but had fewer final-third entries (48 to 61) and big chances created (two to three).
Ipswich were extremely resilient opponents after their early setback, and Tractor Boys boss Kieran McKenna praised his side, particularly Hutchinson after he grabbed his first Premier League goal.
"I thought he (Hutchinson) was a big threat first half, naturally more a winger, but most teams are going to press us high and in the spaces in the middle of the pitch having a dribbler in the middle of the pitch who's elusive and hard to pick up can be a big threat," he told Sky Sports.
"I think it's his first goal in the Premier League he'll be happy to have that of his back and he's improving."
"The first half, it's a blow to concede the early goal but I thought as the half went on we grew in the ascendancy, and the intensity of pressing and work on the ball.
"I thought we were the dominant team in the first half and deserved to be going in at least level. Second half in fairness, Man Utd had more control. It was difficult, we had to defend with real discipline on shape."
Leganes 0-3 Real Madrid: Mbappe and Bellingham score as Blancos close on Barcelona
Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham were both on target as Real Madrid moved to within four points of LaLiga leaders Barcelona with a 3-0 win at Leganes.
Federico Valverde also scored for Carlo Ancelotti's side, who still have a game in hand on leaders Barca, who were pegged back in a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday.
Mbappe ended a goal drought of over 400 minutes after being teed up by Vinicius Junior shortly before half-time, moments after Leganes had surrendered possession near the edge of their own area.
Madrid dominated possession throughout the second half and doubled their advantage in the 66th minute, Valverde drilling a low effort home from a free-kick won by Bellingham.
Bellingham later got in on the act with a header on the rebound after substitute Brahim Diaz rattled the crossbar, as Madrid cruised to back-to-back league wins.
Data Debrief: Dirty work pays off for Madrid
Mbappe's opener, scored at a vital time shortly before the interval, set Madrid on their way to victory on Sunday.
Eduardo Camavinga and Bellingham both pressed high to help the visitors recover possession in the build-up, and Madrid have now scored five goals resulting from high turnovers in LaLiga this season – the most of any team across Europe's top five leagues.
This was the first time Ancelotti had faced Leganes in LaLiga, and he has now beaten all 28 different opponents he has come up against in the competition.
Napoli 1-0 Roma: Lukaku downs former club on Ranieri's return
Claudio Ranieri's Roma return was spoilt by Romelu Lukaku, whose goal against his old club sealed a 1-0 win for Napoli.
Ranieri was appointed Roma boss over the international break, with the 73-year-old coming out of retirement to take charge of the club for a third time.
Yet it was ex-Roma striker Lukaku who decided Sunday's contest at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, with his 54th-minute effort sending Antonio Conte's team back to the top of Serie A.
Lukaku was well-placed to convert from Giovanni Di Lorenzo's cutback, bringing up his fifth Serie A goal of the campaign.
Roma, who had just two attempts and managed only 0.07 expected goals (xG) in the first half, woke up after Lukaku's goal, with Artem Dovbyk powering a header off the woodwork from a free-kick minutes later, but the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless.
Ranieri's next task is to rally his troops for a Europa League clash with Tottenham on Thursday.
Data Debrief: Ranieri's underwhelming return
There was no sign of an immediate upturn for 12th-place Roma, if they were hoping for a new-coach bounce.
Roma ended the first half with fewer than 70 successful passes (68). It is the first time they have had so few successful passes in the opening half of a league game since 2004-05.
With only three wins to their name in the league, they have won fewer than four matches in their opening 13 Serie A games for the first time since the 1978-79 campaign (also three).
And of course, it had to be Lukaku, who was leading their line last season, that delivered the hammer blow. The Belgium international has been involved in nine goals in Serie A this term (five goals, four assists). Only his former Everton club-mate Ademola Lookman, now a star at Atalanta, has contributed to more goals in the competition (seven goals, four assists).
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