The East Londoners made only one change from their last game, with ex-Magpies striker Callum Wilson coming in for Taty Castellanos, for his first start since March.
Newcastle in poor form
Back in November, the Irons won the reverse fixture 3-1 at the London Stadium, though it had been years since they'd done the double over the Tyneside giants.
Eddie Howe had made three changes to his Newcastle starting XI, Kieran Trippier, Harvey Barnes and Jacob Ramsey coming in for Joelinton, Dan Burn and Jacob Murphy.
The Magpies had won only one of their last seven games in all competitions, and had also won just seven Premier League games in front of their own fans.
With nothing really to play for other than pride for the hosts, the onus was on the visitors to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Tonali impressive
After a bright start, the Hammers retreated into their own defensive third, inviting the Magpies onto them, with Sandro Tonali particularly impressive in possession, having more touches (15) than any other player on the pitch in the opening 10 minutes.
Bruno Guimaraes managed the first shot on target from either side shortly after, whilst some quick feet from Will Osula almost saw him carve out a presentable chance, as the hosts looked to press home an advantage.
West Ham managed to survive a series of Newcastle corners, and with 11 touches in the visitors' box compared to none at the other end for the Irons, it was obvious as to which team were on top in the opening quarter hour.
Magpies goalkeeper, Nick Pope, had only had three touches himself during that time, and it wouldn't be long before poor defensive work from Nuno's side saw Barnes run unchallenged towards the box and cross for Woltemade to tap home for his first goal in 18 Premier League games.
Woltemade and Osula take Magpies clear
Once again, Jarrod Bowen appeared to be the one Hammers player willing to give everything for the cause, and he'd already won four of his six one-on-ones and both his aerial duels in the opening 20 minutes.
Konstantinos Mavropanos' two clearances, one interception and one successful tackle again evidenced which way the game was heading, and he and his colleagues could do nothing when Osula broke through in the 20th minute to fire low past Mads Hermansen.
Just 38.5% possession was at the heart of West Ham's problems, as Newcastle simply passed the ball around them with ease. With only 26 minutes played, desperate times called for desperate measures and Nuno rolled the dice, taking off defender Jean-Clair Todibo and bringing on striker Castellanos in his place.
The latter's impact was almost immediate as he ensured Pope was quickly called into action, the keeper also saving directly afterwards from El Hadji Malick Diouf's effort. It belatedly sparked West Ham into life, with Wilson the next to go close.
Clear improvement from West Ham
Mateus Fernandes' excellent distribution (18 completed passes from 19 attempted) began to cause problems, whilst Crysensio Summerville had matched Bowen's efforts in terms of duels, whilst also completing two of four dribbles - more than anyone from either side.
The final 15 minutes of the first half were much more equal, but despite a clear improvement in an attacking sense from the East Londoners, they still trailed by two goals at the break.
Newcastle were the snappier of the two at the start of the second half, though West Ham certainly had their moments. Had Wilson been more alert to a Diouf cross, he may have halved the deficit, rather than allowing Svan Botman to get the better of him.
Tonali had made the most accurate passes in the game (36) before an untimely injury saw him having to go off on 53. It wouldn't alter the course of proceedings in the immediate aftermath, however, as Newcastle managed three efforts on goal in quick succession.
Castellanos stunner gives Hammers hope
Far too many Irons players weren't putting in a shift, and those that were, Bowen, Summerville and Tomas Soucek, were clearly getting more frustrated as the half wore on.
With an hour gone, Bruno Guimaraes' 16 total duels attempted spoke volumes, and Newcastle's evident dominance saw a double substitution from the visitors.
Within a couple of minutes, the game was up for them; however, as one of the subs, Pablo, lost the ball from a throw-in, the Magpies went straight for the jugular with Osula making it 3-0.
Out of absolutely nothing, Castellanos scored the goal of the game with a stunning first-time strike from outside the box, goalkeeper Hermansen grabbing his first assist of the season with the clearance upfield.
More effort but no more goals from the visitors
Two quick penalty appeals being turned down by the match officials, and Bowen's strike straight at Pope within a minute of each other, encapsulated not only West Ham's performance, but their season as a whole.
Wilson's first effort on target with 15 to play also found the Newcastle keeper's gloves as time began to run out for the visitors.
So near yet so far for Nuno and his squad
They were in the ascendancy, though, and Castellanos then hit the woodwork with another fine strike.
Collectively, the East Londoners had won possession back on more occasions than the Magpies, and it was a much better second-half performance from them, even if the scoreline was a fair reflection of the game overall.
As the game edged towards its conclusion, there was a sense that West Ham's players had all but accepted their fate, and they'd have to rely on Chelsea and then Everton to do them a big favour, as long as the East Londoners were able to win their final game against Leeds.
The stats will show that the Hammers had the same total shots in the game as Newcastle (15), had more on target (eight to seven), and a better pass completion rate (82.8% to 82.1%), but the result was always the only thing that was going to matter to the visitors.
