The odds on Sunderland boss Peter Reid becoming the first managerial casualty of the season shortened further after his side slumped to defeat at the hands of arch rivals Newcastle at St James¿s Park this afternoon.
First-half goals from strikers Craig Bellamy and Alan Shearer ensured the three points for Newcastle and allowed Bobby Robson's men to leapfrog their North East rivals and move out of the relegation zone.
Sunderland have now failed to score in three successive defeats and with four defeats from seven Premiership starts, look destined for a long, hard winter battling to avoid the drop.
Shearer took the field with a bandaged head after having four stitches in a cut incurred in Wednesday's Champions League defeat by Dynamo Kiev.
But there was no sign of the former England striker being impaired by the wound as he helped to put his side ahead inside two minutes.
Holding the ball up in midfield, Shearer turned neatly and fed Kieron Dyer, whose first-time pass sent Bellamy sprinting clear of the Sunderland back line. The Welsh international drew Thomas Sorensen before coolly slotting the ball inside the keeper's left post.
Sunderland, who had lost their two previous matches by three goals, rallied immediately and might have been level in the ninth minute when Tore Andre Flo headed Claudio Reyna's free-kick over.
Shay Given came close to a memorable goalkeeping blunder in the 38th minute, blasting a clearance straight at Flo. The ball rebounded off the Norwegian forward and over Given, who had to scramble desperately to stop it trickling over the line.
With Given unable to gather the ball at his first attempt for fear of carrying it over the line, Sunderland might have been level had Flo been alert enough to follow up and they were quickly made to pay for that wasted opportunity.
Within a minute, a Jason McAteer foul on Shearer gave Newcastle a free kick on the edge of the area. Nolberto Solana touched the ball to the right and Shearer drilled a powerful low drive past the edge of the Sunderland wall and inside Sorrensen's near post.
Reid took midfielder McAteer off at half-time and introduced veteran forward Niall Quinn in a bid to turn things around.
But it was all to no avail with the visitors making even less impression in the second half than they had in the first.
Newcastle will be hoping the win heralds an upturn in their fortunes after two successive defeats in the Premiership and their demoralising loss in Kiev.
Robson's men entertain Dutch side Feyenoord on Tuesday in their second Champions League outing.