Liverpool moved to within four points of the top four as Raheem Sterling and Joe Allen's goals condemned Newcastle to a fifth straight defeat.
Sterling, at odds with the club over a new contract, cut inside Ryan Taylor and dispatched a smart finish past Tim Krul to open the scoring.
Newcastle had a strong penalty appeal turned down before the break, but Allen's shot put paid to any comeback. Continue..
A miserable night for the visitors ended with Moussa Sissoko's red card.
The midfielder was fortunate to receive a second yellow - rather than a straight red - for a studs-up challenge on Lucas Leiva, who was uninjured.
This win against a disjointed Newcastle was far from a return to the fluid form that the Reds discovered at the start of 2015.
But with Manchester City stalling above them, and three fixtures against teams in the bottom seven to follow, it was a result to fuel optimism after back-to-back league defeats against Manchester United and Arsenal.
That may be tempered by a closer look at the league table and the vastly superior goal difference - +31 compared to +11 - that, with six games to go, means the gap to City is effectively five points.
For Newcastle, a fifth successive league defeat continues an end-of-season malaise that is unlikely to end in relegation, but will add to supporters' frustrations.
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