Newcastle United defeated Wigan Athletic 3-0 at St James' Park on Monday, and for the first time in a very long time, they looked comfortable in a Premier League match. Demba Ba scored 2 first half goals for NUFC, one on a penalty that saw Maynor Figueroa sent off, and Gael Bigirimana added another in the 70th minute.

Wigan's one-man deficit for the majority of the match certainly aided Newcastle's cause, but they also received plenty of fine performances from some of the fringier players, especially Sylvain Marveaux and Vurnon Anita. Unfortunately, Davide Santon, who was also doing whatever he wanted on the left side of the pitch, picked up a knock and had to be taken off early in the second half. Ba was forced to limp off late as well, but his problem appeared to be less serious. More injury problems would be most unwelcome on Tyneside. Thankfully, Shane Ferguson capably filled in during a game that was pretty much decided 30 minutes in.

Newcastle won't jump up in the table at all as a result of the win, but they do now find themselves with some breathing room above the relegation fray. Wigan are not a formidable team and there are still plenty of reasons to doubt that the Toon will be able to climb the table, but at this point, no positive result should be looked down upon. A win is a win is a win, and this was a win by 3 goals. Sometimes teams need games like this to build their confidence.