Alan Shearer celebrates after breaking Jackie Milburn’s goalscoring record at St James' Park, Newcastle, on Saturday

London: Former England captain Alan Shearer broke Newcastle United’s goal-scoring record in a 2-0 home win over fellow strugglers Portsmouth on Saturday.

The 35-year-old, who took on the role of assistant to caretaker boss Glenn Roeder following the midweek sacking of Graeme Souness, scored in the second half to eclipse Jackie Milburn’s record of 200 goals.

It was Newcastle’s first victory in seven league games and lifted them to 15th in the table, having picked up 29 points from 24 games.

France striker Thierry Henry also reached a significant milestone, grabbing his 200th goal for injury-hit Arsenal in their 2-0 triumph at Birmingham City.

Arsenal, on 40 points, moved up one place to fifth, one point behind neighbours Tottenham Hotspur who host Charlton Athletic in a London derby on Sunday. Leaders Chelsea entertain third-placed Liverpool on Sunday.

Luke Moore’s hattrick inspired Aston Villa to a 4-0 rout of Middlesbrough while new signing Dean Ashton marked his first start for West Ham United with a goal in the 2-0 home win over bottom of the table Sunderland, who had Stephen Wright sent off.

West Bromwich Albion defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 and Bolton Wanderers shared a 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic.

David Weir’s goal gave Everton a 1-0 win at home to Manchester City, who had Stephen Jordan sent off with one minute to go.

New signing Dean Kiely was in sparkling form for second-from-bottom Portsmouth and it took Newcastle until the 41st minute to force the breakthrough.

Kiely made a fine save to deny Shearer but Charles N’Zogbia was on hand to convert the rebound.

Shearer, in his 550th Premier League appearance, made it 2-0 after 64 minutes when he beat Kiely having run on to a ball from Shola Ameobi.

Former Monaco striker Emmanuel Adebayor, just back from African Nations Cup duty with Togo, marked his Arsenal debut with a 22nd-minute goal at third-from-bottom Birmingham.

Arsenal, fielding an inexperienced side, made sure they ended a run of three defeats in four games when the club’s record scorer Henry raced into the penalty area and slammed in a left-foot shot on 63 minutes.

Meanwhile, Michael Ballack scored a virtuoso goal to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday and keep the champions eight points clear at the top of the Bundesliga.

Ballack controlled a high ball on his chest before blasting in on the half-volley as Bayern made it nine home wins out of nine in the league this season.

Werder Bremen kept hold of second spot after coming from 2-0 down to win 4-2 at home against Mainz.