LONDON (Reuters) - Newcastle United eased their Premier League relegation woes after goals from Ciaran Clark, Federico Fernandez and Jonjo Shelvey helped them to a nervy 3-2 win at West Ham United on Saturday.
Defenders Clark and Fernandez sent the Magpies on their way with first-half headers and Shelvey added their third in the 51st minute before Fabian Balbuena and Robert Snodgrass struck for West Ham to set up a dramatic finish.
The result lifted Newcastle to 15th place on 12 points from 11 games while West Ham, who stretched their winless league run to five games, slipped to 12th on 13 points.
Ireland centre-back Clark headed the visitors into a 16th-minute lead after good work by Joelinton and Shelvey before Fernandez took advantage of sloppy defending to double the advantage midway through the opening half.
Newcastle missed several chances to increase their lead before the interval as West Ham keeper Roberto Jimenez made three good saves and Shelvey hit the crossbar with a superb shot in the 35th minute.
Shelvey appeared to have sealed the game as a contest with a sublime finish before Balbuena pulled one back for West Ham and Snodgrass netted in the 90th minute, forcing Newcastle to defend desperately in stoppage time.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)