EPL wrap: Sunderland, West Ham out of relegation zone, as Fulham slump to Southampton

EPL wrap: big wins help Sunderland and West Ham out of relegation zone, while Fulham slump to Southampton.

Sunderland and West Ham United both climbed away from the Premier League relegation zone after recording potentially important victories on Saturday.

League Cup finalists Sunderland enjoyed a 3-0 success at bitter rivals Newcastle United, while West Ham weathered the dismissal of striker Andy Carroll to overcome gue relegation zone after recording potentially important victories on Saturday.

League Cup finalists Sunderland enjoyed a 3-0 success at bitter rivals Newcastle United, while West Ham weathered the dismissal of striker Andy Carroll to overcome Swansea City 2-0 at Upton Park.

Carroll created both of West Ham's first-half goals, knocking the ball down for Kevin Nolan to break the deadlock in the 26th minute and then teeing up the same player to head in a second in first-half injury time.

The former Liverpool striker was then sent off in the 58th minute after catching Swansea centre-back Chico Flores with a flailing arm, but West Ham held on for a win that took them out of the bottom three.

Sunderland leapt up to 12th place in the table after prevailing in the Tyne-Wear derby at St James' Park.

Fabio Borini's penalty gave Sunderland the lead in the 19th minute and Adam Johnson tapped in his seventh goal in seven games four minutes later before Jack Colback sealed victory with a late strike.

Kevin Nolan rises unmarked for West Ham's second goal.

Elsewhere, Fulham's new striker, Greek international Konstantinos Mitroglou, may have wished he hadn't signed after his side went bottom of the Premier League on Saturday after a 3-0 defeat to Southampton.

Mitroglou, signed for $20.5 million on Friday, didn't play but he will have not been encouraged by what he saw as Southampton weathered a first-half storm to run out easy winners and record only their third ever win at Craven Cottage and first since October 1947.

Southampton consolidated their ninth spot and moved to within two points of Newcastle, who lost 3-0 at home to Sunderland earlier on Saturday, while Fulham's fifth defeat in their last six league matches sees them trail second from bottom Cardiff by two points.

Fulham were the sharpest side at the outset with Scott Parker, Darren Bent and Dan Burn all going close without really testing Artur Boruc.

Fulham didn't let up in the opening 25 minutes as they piled the pressure on Saints, although their shooting accuracy let them down with Steve Sidwell and German Lewis Holtby, signed on loan from Spurs this week, ruining their good work by firing wide.

However, Boruc had to be at his best to deny Brede Hangeland, whose powerful header was going into the top corner before the former Celtic stopper somehow got a hand to it to turn over for a corner.

Rickie Lambert was on the scoresheet again as Southampton thumped Fulham.

Boruc kept the visitors in the game by producing two more superb saves, both from Bent while Southampton's only effort of note was Jay Rodriguez's flashing header that went wide.

Pocchettino made a change at the break taking off Kenyan international Victor Wanyama, who had looked rusty after having a long spell on the sidelines with an injury.

However, there was nothing rusty about his teammates in the second-half as having been let off the hook somewhat by Fulham they took full advantage.

First Adam Lallana fired home his eighth goal of the season, set up by fellow England international Rickie Lambert, in the 64th minute on what was his 250th appearance for the club.

Lambert too got on the scoresheet six minutes later finishing off a simply tremendous move, started by Nathan Clyne, who did a 1-2 with Steve Davis, before he sent the ball into the area where Lambert was on hand to hammer it home after Rodriguez had generously left it for him.

It was the third successive Premier League match between the two sides that Lambert had scored in.

Extraordinarily it was 3-0 five minutes later as Rodriguez deservedly got one of his own, found by Lambert wide out on the touchline he looked unlikely to make much out of it but having cut inside he looked up and beat Dutch 'keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

In other news, Cardiff City's new signings Wilfried Zaha and Kenwyne Jones made an instant impact as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side climbed off the foot of the table by coming from behind to win 2-1 at home to Norwich City.

Robert Snodgrass put Norwich ahead in the fifth minute, but on-loan Manchester United winger Zaha created a 49th-minute equaliser for Craig Bellamy before Jones smashed in the winner a minute later.