Luke Moore hit a hat-trick as Aston Villa hammered Middlesbrough 4-0 to pile the pressure on manager Steve McClaren.

Moore, buoyed by his point-earning equaliser against Chelsea in midweek, set Villa on the way to a resounding win at the Riverside Stadium with the opener after 18 minutes.

Kevin Phillips doubled the lead six minutes later but Moore took the plaudits by grabbing two more in quick succession just after the hour.

Alan Shearer broke Newcastle's goalscoring record as the Magpies lifted the gloom surrounding St. James’s Park after Graeme Souness's sacking with victory over Portsmouth.

The veteran struck his 201st Newcastle goal to secure a 2-0 win over Pompey and end a difficult week with three welcome points.

Charles N'Zogbia opened the scoring in the 41st minute.

Arsenal put some of their recent troubles behind them with a 2-0 win over Birmingham at St Andrews.

Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor got his Gunners career off to a flying start with a debut goal when he headed into an empty net after a mix-up between Martin Latka and Maik Taylor in the 21st minute.

Thierry Henry wrapped up the win with the second goal - his 200th for the Gunners - in the 63rd minute. Birmingham's misery was complete when Emile Heskey was sent off in the closing moments for a second bookable offence.

Everton claimed a 1-0 win against 10-man Manchester City at Goodison Park after an early goal from David Weir.

Weir diverted the ball into the net during a goalmouth scramble in the eighth minute after Tim Cahill had made poor contact with a header.

That came after Leon Osman clipped the bar in the second minute as Everton dominated the early proceedings.

City pushed the Toffees in the second half but their hopes evaporated when Stephen Jordan was dismissed following a rash tackle on Tony Hibbert.

Kevin Campbell and Jonathan Greening shot West Brom a 2-0 win over Blackburn at The Hawthorns.

Campbell opened the scoring after six minutes when he coolly chested down Junichi Inamoto's crossfield ball and flicked it past Brad Friedel.

Greening added the second when he controlled the ball and fired home on the volley after 32 minutes.

Andreas Johansson struck the equaliser as Wigan claimed a 1-1 draw from a tight derby against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.

Stelios Giannakopoulos had put Bolton ahead on 63 minutes but Wigan fought on and Johansson levelled after Jussi Jaaskelainen had stopped a Reto Ziegler free-kick.

Bottom side Sunderland's attempts to claim a point with 10 men against West Ham ended were dashed as they conceded two late goals to lose 2-0 at Upton Park.

The Wearsiders had looked like holding on despite having Stephen Wright - on his return from injury - dismissed for a second bookable offence when he brought down Matthew Etherington on 23 minutes.

But after Marlon Harewood had an effort ruled out for offside, Sunderland eventually capitulated as Dean Ashton, making his first Hammers start, and Paul Konchesky struck in the 81st and 87th minutes respectively.