PORTSMOUTH turned in a stunning display of finishing to condemn woeful Newcastle to their first home defeat of the season. The visitors raced into a 3-0 lead within 11 minutes of kick-off as Noe Pamarot, Benjani Mwaruwari and John Utaka struck in quick succession.

Sol Campbell's 15th-minute own goal gave the Magpies hope, but Niko Kranjcar wrapped up the win with a 70th-minute free-kick to clinch a fourth successive away victory.

Nicky Butt, wearing the captain's armband in the absence of both Geremi and Shay Given, was paired in central midfield with Joey Barton as he made his first competitive start at St James' Park, with Alan Smith partnering Michael Owen in attack. But the captain was stunned within eight minutes when a corner was cleared to full-back Pamarot 25 yards out and he unleashed a fierce left-foot shot which sped past Steve Harper. The Magpies were still coming to terms with the reverse when they fell further behind a minute later as Benjani Mwaruwari held off Claudio Cacapa's challenge to run on to a long ball and curl a left-foot shot past the stranded Harper.

Newcastle's unbeaten home record was in tatters, and things took a further turn for the worse on 11 minutes when John Utaka muscled the hapless Cacapa off the ball once again to round Harper and make it 3-0. Sam Allardyce immediately left his seat in the stand to head for the bench with the game already looking beyond his side. But they were handed a lifeline on 15 minutes when, after David James had blocked Charles N'Zogbia's shot and Owen's follow-up, the ball ricocheted off Campbell into his own net. It might have been 3-2 five minutes later had James not got down well at his near post to block Steven Taylor's shot.

Newcastle were making a fist of it going forward, but the visitors were dominating in the middle of the park with Papa Bouba Diop and and Sulley Muntari giving Barton and Butt the run-around.

And where Pompey's passing and movement provided the foundation for their attacks, the home side were perhaps too often relying on a long-ball approach which, with Campbell and Sylvain Distin in direct opposition to Owen and Smith, proved largely ineffective.

Allardyce persisted with his ploy of playing James Milner on the left and N'Zogbia on the right, swapping their favoured positions, after the break. But once again, the Magpies' efforts to reduce the deficit were hampered by carelessness . It cost them further. The visitors wrapped up the points with 20 minutes remaining when first Taylor and then Abdoulaye Faye failed to cut out Kranjcar's free-kick and it flew past the flat-footed Harper to make it 4-1.