While the celebrating away end remained packed immediately after the final whistle, hordes of West Ham fans had already long left London Stadium in disappointment.
After a promising start to the season the Hammers have slid down the table after five league matches without a win and are now only a point clear of Newcastle in 13th place.
Manuel Pellegrini's side appear to have still not recovered from the scars of that humiliating League Cup defeat by League One side Oxford United which has proved to be the catalyst for this dismal run.
The Hammers lacked ideas in the final third of the pitch, unable to create any clear-cut chances from open play in a first half dominated by Newcastle.
The home fans began to show their frustration, notably after keeper Roberto should have stopped Shelvey's free-kick from creeping in, and had already left in their droves before Balbuena and Snodgrass sparked a fightback which had looked unlikely over the previous 70 minutes.
Ultimately it came far too late and produced a final scoreline which did not truly reflect Newcastle's superiority.
"It's a bad result and it is a performance that isn't West Ham like," Hammers scorer Snodgrass told BBC Match of the Day.
"We need a reality check and need to know we need to start getting points on the board.
"We need to be solid and resolute, we could have been four or five down. We can't give teams a three goals start."