Newcastle eased any lingering fears of being drawn into the relegation battle with a 3-1 win over Brighton to end a five-game losing streak.
William Osula and Dan Burn scored in the opening 24 minutes as Newcastle edged up to 13th.
Jack Hinshelwood pulled a goal back, but defeat could prove costly to Brighton's European ambitions as having started the weekend in sixth, they could end it outside the top half.
Harvey Barnes rounded off the scoring in stoppage time to bring some relief to the under-fire Eddie Howe.
Sunderland's bid for Europe was also dented by a 1-1 draw at bottom-of-the-table Wolves.
Nordi Mukiele put the Black Cats in front early on, but Sunderland played for over an hour a man down after a red card for Dan Ballard.
Santiago Bueno levelled but Wolves could not muster just a fourth league win of the season.
