Leicester 0 Newcastle 3: Dismal Foxes set dire new record as Jacob Murphy fires Toon towards Champions League places
NEWCASTLE’S season keeps getting better and better.
Two early goals from Jacob Murphy set up a victory that puts Eddie Howe’s side in sight of Champions League qualification.
And Murphy’s second was among the more bizarre goals of the season – as he pounced after Fabian Schar’s incredible 60-yard shot that hit the bar.
Three weeks after winning the Carabao Cup with a famous Wembley win over Liverpool, Newcastle are now fifth in the Premier League and looking at a return to Europe’s elite.
But Leicester’s shambles of a season is going from bad to worse.
With relegation all but certain, the Foxes were beaten by half time when their former winger Harvey Barnes grabbed Toon’s third goal on his first return to the King Power Stadium since leaving for Tyneside in a £39million deal two years ago.
And the Foxes collected an unwanted record along the way.
No side in Football League history has ever lost eight home games in a row without scoring a goal.
Leicester’s last Premier League goal at home was in December – but they have not found the net at all since winning at Tottenham in January.
This was their eighth defeat in a row and the Championship beckons.
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And to think Steve Cooper was sacked in November when the Foxes were in 16th spot – a decision the King Power top brass that has backfired spectacularly.
Once again, there was no place for midfielder Harry Winks who is thought to have fallen out with Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy over his refusal to stay at the club’s training ground for a night instead of making a 100-mile commute.
Leicester managed to produce the first shot of the game in the opening minute when skipper Jamie Vardy forced Nick Pope into a save.
But Newcastle’s reaction 60 seconds later provided the platform for what was to come.
Barnes supplied Tino Livramento on the left and his pinpoint cross found Murphy at the far post
A frustrated Foxes boss Ruud van Nistelpooy was left shaking his head in the technical area – and worse was to come for the Dutchman.
Newcastle went two up after 11 minutes as Schar spotted keeper Mads Hermansen off his line and launched a shot on goal from inside his own half.
He hit the bar – but no Leicester player was on hand to clear the rebound.
It left Murphy with a clear run on goal and he netted his second of the night unchallenged.
That brought cries of ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ from fed-up Foxes fans.
Leicester briefly steadied the ship when Bilal El Khannouss took matters into his own hands and forced Pope into another save.
But Toon went three up after 35 minutes as Barnes ended any slim hopes his former club had of a comeback.
The former Fox started the move from deep inside his own half.
He fed Alexander Isak whose shot was blocked.
Joelinton picked up the loose ball and when his shot was saved by Hermansen, Barnes scored from close range.
Tellingly, he refused to celebrate at the club where he came through the ranks.
Then came a moment that summed up Leicester’s season.
Patson Daka fired in a shot from 20 yards which beat Pope but hit one post, then the other before falling to a grateful Newcastle goalkeeper.
The biggest cheer of the night from the Leicester fans came with 16 minutes left when 15-year-old prodigy Jeremy Monga came on as a substitute.
Monga is tipped for big things. But van Nistelrooy had previously said he would resist calling him into the first team because there are limits on his training time while he is still at school.
Newcastle stepped off the gas in the second half as Leicester tried to score that elusive goal at least keep themselves out of the record books.