A dominant Newcastle United side secured their fourth consecutive victory across all competitions with a resounding 3-0 win over Leicester City on Monday night, climbing into the Premier League’s top five and pushing the Foxes perilously close to relegation.
The pressure was immense on Leicester, who face an almost certain return to the Championship. Their hopes of giving their fans something to cheer about were dashed almost immediately as Newcastle opened the scoring within the first two minutes. A fantastic team move saw Joelinton play in Harvey Barnes on the left wing. The former Leicester winger then found the overlapping Tino Livramento, who delivered a pinpoint cross for Jacob Murphy to tap home at the back post.
Newcastle quickly doubled their lead just nine minutes later in spectacular fashion. Fabian Schar unleashed a thunderous effort from inside his own half which crashed off the crossbar, and Murphy was on hand again to tuck in the rebound, securing his brace.
Leicester, clearly stunned by conceding two goals in the opening quarter-hour, struggled to pose any significant threat to the Magpies, who continued to look dangerous throughout the first half. Eddie Howe’s men added a third goal in the 34th minute. A swift counter-attack saw Mads Hermansen parry Joelinton�s shot into the path of Barnes, who instinctively slotted the ball into an empty net.
Having conceded 21 goals since they last scored and losing their previous seven home league games without finding the net, even a consolation goal would have been a welcome relief for the home supporters. However, it was not to be for Leicester. Newcastle even threatened to extend their lead further when EFL Cup final hero Dan Burn headed a corner narrowly wide.
Comfortably three goals ahead, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe took the opportunity to rest some key players, substituting Brazilian duo Joelinton and Bruno Guimar�es, along with Alexander Isak, shortly after the hour mark. The final whistle blew, confirming a comprehensive victory for Newcastle and leaving Leicester staring down the barrel of relegation with their immediate future looking increasingly bleak.
