Newcastle v Leicester, 2024/25

Jacob Murphy's calm finish got the ball rolling in the first half as Leicester struggled to contain Newcastle. Bruno Guimaraes nodded home Lewis Hall's flick-on after 47 minutes to double the lead, before the full-back's brilliant low cross was headed home by Alexander Isak three minutes later.

Isak then raced through on the counter-attack to tee up Murphy for his second of the game on the hour.

Following the victory, Newcastle are 11th in the table and outside the top half on goal difference, while Leicester are 16th.

Newcastle dominated the opening stages, as Anthony Gordon forced a diving stop from Mads Hermansen after just seven minutes, before Dan Burn and Guimaraes headed half-chances off the target.

That proved to be a warning from hosts as Gordon cut back from the byline, and Murphy calmly steered home his first goal of the season before the break.

Any chance of a Leicester fightback was extinguished soon after the restart, as Guimaraes forced Hall’s header home.

Hall deserved another assist three minutes later after helping Isak score the third, but a deflection from Conor Coady proved to be the final diversion into the Swede’s path. Nevertheless, Isak nodded home his seventh Premier League goal of the season.

With Leicester ragged in the closing stages, Newcastle kept their ruthless edge. Murphy finished off a flowing move and Newcastle scored four Premier League goals in a game for the first time in 2024-25.

Hard-running Hall impresses

Howe has tried multiple options at left-back in his time at St. James' Park with Burn stepping across from central defence and Kieran Trippier covering as needed.

However, the rise of Hall this season appears to have solved a long-standing problem for the Newcastle boss, with the former Chelsea defender looking his best option in the role.

Defensively, the 20-year-old has shown a real appetite for one-v-one battles, but his lung-busting runs forward caused problems for Leicester throughout the game.
A nodded assist for Guimaraes' goal was his first at home this season and, despite his cross for Isak's header taking a kind deflection, his industry to constantly burst past Gordon shows how confident he is right now.

Newcastle fans will be championing his cause for the England national team, while he will hope to retain his place for Newcastle's EFL Cup quarter final against Brentford on 18 December.

Foxes fall short despite plenty of effort

Despite the final result, Van Nistelrooy will be happy by the endeavour shown by his players on Tyneside as they struggled to contain a rampant Newcastle.

Stephy Mavididi and Kasey McAteer provided attacking thrust either side of Jamie Vardy and covered plenty of ground to help out Victor Kristiansen and James Justin respectively.

The twin-threat of Gordon and Murphy was clearly highlighted pre-game and, despite the Foxes defence being overrun by Newcastle attacks, Mavididi and McAteer grafted to cover gaps as part of a five-man midfield out of possession.

Mavididi was unlucky with Isak's goal as Hall's cross deflected to Isak but, on a day of few positives for Van Nistelrooy, the industry of his wide men showed their willingness to battle.

Up next for Leicester is a home clash with struggling Wolves next Sunday and Mavididi and McAteer will be hoping to show their quality going forward.