LONDON - NEWCASTLE beat Stoke 4-1 on Wednesday in the English FA Cup in its first match since Kevin Keegan's return to the club, while non-league Havant and Waterlooville beat Swansea 4-2 to set up a fourth-round meeting with Liverpool.

Newcastle drew 0-0 against Stoke two weeks ago but, lifted by the reappointment of Keegan, won its replay against the visiting League Championship side through goals by Michael Owen, Claudio Cacapa, James Milner and Damien Duff.

Havant and Waterlooville scored three goals in the first 37 minutes of its replay to ease to victory over Swansea and earn a meeting with the seven-time cup winner at Anfield on Jan 26.

Also Wednesday, Manchester City beat Premier League rival West Ham 1-0, and League Two club Hereford ousted Tranmere 1-0.

Newcastle's original match with Stoke on Jan 6 was Sam Allardyce's last as manager. The coach was asked to leave the following week because the club is languishing in mid table in the Premier League.

It was then routed 6-0 at Manchester United last weekend, but rallied on Wednesday after the players and fans learned that former England manager Keegan had agreed to rejoin the club he almost led to the Premier League title in 1996.

With the fans chanting Keegan's name, Owen put the Magpies ahead from a rebound in the eighth minute. But they were reduced to 10 men in the 29th when midfielder Emre Belozoglu was sent off for barging Stoke captain John Eustace.

Cacapa, though, made it 2-0 with a header from Charles N'Zogbia's 31st-minute corner kick.

Stoke, which is a contender for promotion to the Premier League, rarely threatened despite its man advantage and Milner made it 3-0 with a right-foot shot in the 68th.

Eight minutes later, with Keegan watching from the stands, Duff completed the Magpies' scoring with his first goal since September 2006.

Former Sunderland midfielder Liam Lawrence got a late goal for Stoke with a curling shot into the top corner, but Newcastle still advanced to a meeting with Arsenal.

Havant and Waterlooville's fans greeted their team's victory over Swansea and a lucrative meeting with Liverpool by carrying the players from the field.

Jamie Collins, Rocky Baptiste and Tom Jordan added to an early own-goal by Swansea's Garry Monk to clinch victory in Havant's ninth FA Cup match of the season.

Manchester City reached the fourth round thanks to Elano's 73rd-minute header against the Hammers.

City will play at Sheffield United in the next round, while Hereford earned a match at home to Cardiff, through Simon Johnson's 72nd-minute goal.

Keegan returns as manager
Kevin Keegan has returned to Newcastle as manager on a three-and-a-half year contract, the club confirmed late on Wednesday.

Keegan, a hero to the Newcastle fans for his exploits as a player at the club in the 1980s and as manager in the 1990s, was named earlier in the day as the successor to Sam Allardyce.

His return to St James' Park - albeit only as a spectator - appeared to have an immediate galvanising impact with the Magpies registering their biggest home win of the season, a 4-1 win over Stoke City in an FA Cup third round replay. -- AP, AFP