Newcastle United gave coach Bobby Robson a rousing 70th birthday present on Tuesday -- a 3-1 win in the Champions League behind two goals by Shola Ameobi.
Newcastle also got a goal and an assist from Lomana LuaLua to gain its first victory in Group A of the second stage of the competition.
Leverkusen slumped to its third defeat in three matches, not the best start for new coach Thomas Hoerster, who replaced Klaus Toppmoeller on Sunday.
``If we had not won tonight, I think our chance would have gone,'' Robson said. ``But we have got the three points and on the evidence of tonight, without being overconfident, I think we can do it again.''
In other results on Tuesday, Argentine forward Javier Saviola and Dutchmen Philip Cocu and Patrick Kluivert scored as FC Barcelona beat Inter Milan 3-0.
Barca's win put it top of Group A with nine points, followed by Inter with six points, Newcastle with five points, while Leverkusen has no points.
In Group A, Ajax held Arsenal 1-1 while Valencia beat AS Roma in Italy 1-0 with a freak John Carew goal.
Arsenal keeps the lead in the standings from Ajax and Valencia on goal difference. All three have five points. Roma has no points.
Ajax held Arsenal at Highbury through teenager Nigel de Jong's first club goal.
Sylvain Wiltord took a well-timed cross from former Ajax player Dennis Bergkamp down the right to the edge of goal and scored from an acute angle in the fifth minute.
Ajax equalized through 18-year-old de Jong in the 17th minute. De Jong collected a long ball cross from Jelle van Damme, shook off Arsenal defender Ashley Cole and chipped over the approaching Arsenal 'keeper David Seaman.
``It was a little bit frustrating today. We seem to be picking up points away and struggling at home,'' Arsenal defender Sol Campbell said.
``We had good possession but it didn't fall for us in the box. There were a few ricochets but the ball was never there.''
In Leverkusen, Bayer's season continued its downward slope.
Hoerster took over after Leverkusen's fifth straight Bundesliga defeat.
Newcastle quickly established control over the shaken German team, going ahead after five minutes.
LuaLua toyed with two defenders on the left side and then delivered a perfect cross for Ameobi, who finished the move with a simple header.
Ameobi capitalized on a defensive error of the type that has become typical for Leverkusen this season to make it 2-0 after 16 minutes.
Leverkusen's recently signed Brazilian defender Cris missed a simple clearance and Ameobi strode freely to roll the ball past Hans-Joerg Butt, the helpless goalkeeper.
Leverkusen appeared to begin a recovery with a goal in the 26th. A 1-2 play with Jan Simak allowed Brazilian striker Franca to break free and chip the ball over the advancing Shay Given.
But only seven minutes later, Newcastle restored its two-goal lead, again using a Leverkusen mistake.
Oliver Neuville, a German
international, tried to prevent the ball from rolling out of bounds, only to end up serving Olivier Bernard, who launched his fellow Frenchman Laurent Robert on the left flank. With the Leverkusen defense scrambling to get back, Robert crossed into the middle and LuaLua slammed the ball home.
In Rome, Norwegian striker Carew scored a bizarre goal in the closing minutes. Carew screwed the ball from an angled position, baffling Roma goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli, who was expecting a cross and was caught by surprise in the 78th minute at the Olympic stadium.
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