Leon Best's brilliant first-half strike took Newcastle up to sixth in the Premier League table and spoiled Mark Hughes's first game as QPR manager.

Rangers twice hit the woodwork in the first half, through a fierce Shaun Wright-Phillips strike and Jay Bothroyd's fabulous, curling effort.

But Newcastle recovered from a shaky start and Best stroked home a cool winner after some fine footwork.

Blackburn survived the early sending-off of Yakubu to climb out of the relegation zone for the first time since September with a valuable win.

Striker Yakubu saw red midway through the first period for a recklessly high challenge on Danny Murphy.

But the home side went ahead through Morten Gamst Pedersen's curling free-kick before David Dunn's low shot.