Newcastle United boosted their hopes of UEFA Champions League qualification and pushed Leicester City closer to relegation with a crushing 3-0 win at King Power Stadium.
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After several rivals for a top-four Premier League finish dropped points over the weekend, Newcastle took their chance to go fifth in the table with an emphatic showing.
Two Jacob Murphy goals had them 2-0 up within 11 minutes, the second coming after Fabian Schar hit the crossbar from inside his own half.
Former Leicester winger Harvey Barnes added a third as the Foxes set an unwanted Premier League record of EIGHT home matches without scoring a goal.
While Newcastle with one game in hand, go one point clear of Manchester City and are only behind Chelsea on goal difference, Leicester stay 15 points adrift of 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, with only 21 points to play for.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
31 | +42 | 73 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
31 | +30 | 62 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
31 | +14 | 57 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
31 | +17 | 53 |
| 5 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
30 | +13 | 53 |
| 6 |
Man City
MCI
|
31 | +17 | 52 |
How the match unfolded
Jamie Vardy worked Nick Pope after just 10 seconds, but Newcastle hit the front in the second minute when Tino Livramento crossed for the unmarked Murphy to convert.
Their second goal came in remarkable fashion. Schar spotted Mads Hermansen off his line and hit the crossbar with an audacious shot from beyond the halfway line, but Murphy collected the loose ball and poked home.
Newcastle sliced through Leicester with ease as Alexander Isak shot wide, and they had their third goal in the 34th minute, Barnes tapping in after Hermansen parried Joelinton's effort.
A Patson Daka shot struck both posts and bounced back to Pope amid a suspicion of offside against Vardy late in the first half, in Leicester's best opening of the game.
Newcastle's tempo dropped after half-time, but Hermansen almost gifted them a fourth goal when he passed straight to Schar, immediately atoning by parrying the defender's shot.
Leicester had something to celebrate when 15-year-old Jeremy Monga came on for his Premier League debut, but they failed to score once again as Wout Faes sent a late header wide.
Leicester sinking without trace
Ruud van Nistelrooy had promised Leicester would fight until the end ahead of this match, but fight was in short supply from them here, at least when defending.
When Schar's stunning effort struck the crossbar at 1-0, both Conor Coady and Faes stopped instead of tracking Murphy for the rebound, seemingly resigned to conceding. It was a similar story for the third goal, with Leicester's backline slow to react to Hermansen's parry.
Leicester attempted to offer some consolation in attack, but things would not fall for them. Daka had their best effort as the flag went up against Vardy, and replays suggested that tight call might have been subject to a VAR check, had Daka found the net.
Leicester's brightest moment came when Monga was introduced, becoming the second-youngest player to appear in the Premier League, after Ethan Nwaneri on his 2022 debut.
But that was as good as it got as Leicester became the first team in Football League history to lose eight successive home league matches without scoring.
One day after Southampton's relegation was confirmed, Leicester are not far behind them. They face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday and Liverpool eight days later, and their return to the Championship could be official after those two matches.
Momentum with Magpies
If anyone believed Newcastle would relax following their EFL Cup triumph, they might want to think again.
Slip-ups from Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Man City gave Eddie Howe's men a chance to seize the initiative in the Champions League race, and they grasped it with both hands.
This victory was all about Newcastle's wingers. A three-match ban and a thigh injury have combined to keep Anthony Gordon out since early March, but the Magpies have barely missed him, thanks to the form of Barnes.
He showed good awareness in the lead-up to the opener, waiting for Livramento to create an overload before slipping him through. And when the home defenders were on their heels from Joelinton's parried effort, Barnes was alert enough to stab in the rebound.
Murphy, meanwhile, showed the predatory instincts that have made this the best season of his career. Since 7 December, only Mohamed Salah (23) and Isak (17) have bettered his 14 goal involvements in the Premier League.
Fifth place could be enough for Champions League qualification, but Newcastle will aim even higher. They have a match in hand on the teams around them, and out-of-form Manchester United are their next opponents on Sunday.
Club reports
Leicester report | Newcastle report
What the managers said
Ruud van Nistelrooy: "It's clear where it went wrong very early in the game again.
"If we look at the three goals carefully we could have done better in all three. Newcastle are deadly on counter attack and finished the game very quickly."
Eddie Howe: "Really pleased. A massive win for us. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. We started really well and that gave us the foundation to go and win."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Newcastle have won 11 of their last 15 Premier League matches (L4), starting with a 4-0 win over Leicester on 14th December; only Liverpool (38) have more points in the competition since then than the Magpies’ 33.
Leicester have now failed to score in eight successive Premier League matches, only Crystal Palace in January 1995 have endured a longer run in the competition (nine games).
Newcastle have won eight of their 16 Premier League away games this season (D3 L5), only winning more in a Premier League campaign in 1993/94 and 2001/02 (both nine).
Leicester are the first side in the top four tiers of English football to lose eight successive home league matches without scoring.