London: Liverpool climbed out of the relegation zone thanks to Maxi Rodriguez's late winner against Bolton and Kevin Nolan's hat trick helped Newcastle thrash Sunderland 5-1 for its biggest win over its northeast rival for 54 years.
Rodriguez toe-poked home in the 86th minute to earn Liverpool a second successive Premier League win, after last weekend's victory against Blackburn, and lift the 18-time champions into midtable.
Newcastle moved into seventh place by routing 10-man Sunderland thanks to Nolan's haul and two goals by Shola Amoebi — one coming from the penalty spot. Titus Bramble was sent off against his former club when the score was 3-0, with Sunderland's consolation coming from Darren Bent.
In the day's other game, Aston Villa and Birmingham drew 0-0 in a match of few clear-cut chances. Both teams find themselves leapfrogged in the table by Liverpool, which is now 12th and slowly finding its feet in the Premier League after its worst start to a campaign in 57 years.
The Reds are still far from their fluent best but looked solid at the back against Bolton and created a number of opportunities, notably for Fernando Torres, before Rodriguez found the net late on for his first goal of the season after being played through by Torres' deft flick.
Torres wasted two chances in the opening eight minutes, the second coming when he was played through on goal by Steven Gerrard but cut inside instead of shooting.
Gerrard sent a shot wide and Sotiris Krygiakos had a header saved by Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen while at the other end, Kevin Davies was denied a penalty when he appeared to be pushed and then glanced a header just wide.
Rodriguez's late goal lifted Liverpool six places in the table, and Roy Hodgson's side is three points behind fifth-place Tottenham ahead of next weekend's home match against league leader Chelsea.
Newcastle's stunning win at St James' Park would have been particularly pleasing for manager Chris Hughton, who was handed a vote of confidence by the club's board in midweek after recent media speculation about his future.
"It was a wonderful team performance. It's been a tough week but a very, very good day," said Hughton, whose contract is up at the end of the season.
Nolan scored twice within the space of eight minutes midway through the first half to set Newcastle on its way to its most convincing victory over Sunderland since a 6-2 win in 1956. He then clinched his hat trick in the 75th, before dedicating the three points to Hughton.
"I'm delighted for the fans but I'm also delighted for Chris — he deserves it after what he's been put through this week," Nolan said.
Amoebi made it 3-0 from the spot in first-half stoppage time after Jonas Gutierrez was fouled by Nedum Onouha and scored his second in the 70th, by which time Bramble had been dismissed for a professional foul on Andy Carroll.
"All I can do is apologize (to the fans)," Sunderland manager Steve Bruce said. "When you get beaten as badly as that, here of all places, it will take a lot of recovering. We got blown away by a far superior team on the day."
The entertainment on offer at St James' Park was not replicated at Villa Park, where Birmingham ended a run of six straight defeats against Aston Villa by earning a deserved point.
Villa winger Ashley Young came closest to breaking the deadlock in a game of few clear-cut chances but the England international's powerful strike in the final minute crashed against the angle of post and bar.
The hosts finished well but were poor in the opening 70 minutes, with goalkeeper Brad Friedel coming to their rescue on a number of occasions. Villa is on 12 points, one clear of Birmingham, but has only won once in the league since August.
"We will take the point but one or two in the dressing room were disappointed we didn't take the chances we had," Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said.
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