Newcastle United 2 Aston Villa 0:A second half brace from Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins has lifted Newcastle United off the bottom and prevented Aston Villa from forcing Arsenal out of the top four in the Premier League.

Martins' opener came on the hour when he controlled a long ball on the edge of the box before turning to shoot low past Brad Friedel in the Villa goal.

His second, seven minutes from time, owed much to Jonas Gutierrez whose direct run and pass left Martins with little to do but tap it in and send his side six places in the right direction and ahead of north-east rivals Sunderland on goal difference.

It might have been so different had Gabriel Agbonlahor not miskicked in front of goal or Shay Given, making his 450th appearance for the club, not produced a fine stop to deny Ashley Young.

But the bulk of a crowd of 44,567 headed home hopeful a significant corner had been turned and would be able to look forward with renewed optimism despite  the ongoing turmoil behind the scenes.

The Magpies could only look on over the weekend as wins for the likes of Wigan, Bolton and Tottenham sent them sliding to the foot of the table without  kicking a ball.

Newcastle knew only their very best would see them emerge with all three points and that feeling was proved correct in a highly-competitive first 45 minutes.

They got their warning with just 11 minutes gone when Villa captain Martin Laursen glanced a Gareth Barry corner just wide of the outside of the post, and
quite how Agbonlahor failed to convert former Magpie James Milner's 22nd-minute cross only he will know.

But Kinnear's men had Given, now fourth in the club's all-time appearance list, to thank for their share of the spoils at the break when he made a point-blank block to deny Ashley Young nine minutes before the break after Agbonlahor had played him in.

However, Newcastle had chances - or more accurately, half-chances - of their own with Joey Barton, who had earlier been spoken to by referee Steve Bennett after a clash with Agbonlahor, forcing a good save from Brad Friedel with a long-distance effort, and Steven Taylor only just failing to connect with Habib Beye's 41st-minute cross in front of goal.

Villa's pace on the break was a constant threat, as was the returning John Carew's ability to hold the ball up and play others in.

But with the Magpies' rearguard just about holding firm, they returned with their hopes intact.

Beye needed to be at his best to prevent Agbonlahor from turning Milner's cross home within two minutes of the restart as Villa assumed control in the early stages of the second half.

Newcastle were increasingly stretched and Barton earned himself a booking with a late 53rd-minute challenge on Luke Young as he desperately tried to stem the tide.

The game was starting to open up, and the opening goal arrived with 30 minutes remaining.

Barton picked out Martins with his back to goal on the edge of the penalty area and he turned smartly before blasting a left-foot drive wide of Friedel's  dive and into the bottom corner.

The Magpies would have been significantly closer to victory seven minutes later had Nicky Butt's free-kick crept inside the post rather than clipped the outside of it.

Butt volleyed just wide as the Magpies threatened to kill off the game but with midfielder Steve Sidwell having replaced full-back Nicky Shorey with 18 minutes remaining, the visitors started to make their final push.

However, the game was effectively over eight minutes from time when Gutierrez capped a fine individual display with a high-octane run down the left and a cross which Martins gleefully blasted into the back of the net.

Beye might have made sure in injury-time but the points were safe.