Leicester became the first side in Football League history to lose eight home games in a row without scoring as Newcastle boosted their Champions League qualification chances with a 3-0 thrashing at the King Power Stadium.
Already-relegated Southampton parted with Ivan Juric earlier in the day amid talk the Premier League’s bottom team are the competition’s worst-ever – but Leicester have hardly been much better and their own drop back to the Championship seems inevitable after this capitulation.
Fifteen points behind 17th-placed Wolves with seven to play looks an impossible task for Ruud van Nistelrooy’s sorry side, who have now gone over 12 hours without scoring in the top flight.
Their own fans were chanting, ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ when Jacob Murphy added his and Newcastle’s second after 11 minutes. He was the only player to react when Fabian Schar’s shot from his own half lobbed Mads Hermansen and came back off the bar.
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Jacob Murphy gave Newcastle the lead after two minutes
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Murphy doubled Newcastle’s lead after Fabian Schar’s spectacular effort from inside his own half came back off the crossbar
It summed up the lack of intensity from Leicester’s defence, which was also on show when Murphy tapped in Tino Livramento’s cross one minute and 53 seconds in, and again when James Justin and Wout Faes allowed Joelinton to twist and shoot before Harvey Barnes pounced on the rebound. The winger looked a little embarrassed to score in such fashion against his former side.
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Harvey Barnes scored Newcastle’s third against his former club
Also in the first half, Patson Daka hit both posts with a shot and then saw an offside flag go up to underline how things just aren’t going Leicester’s way. But it’s now 15 defeats in their last 16 Premier League games and their fans – who have now seen a club-record 11 home losses this term – made their feelings clear, with many heading for the exits at half-time.
These are two teams going in very different directions. Newcastle’s walkover win – sealed in the most serene of second halves – has lifted them up to fifth in the table, level with fourth-placed Chelsea on points and with a game in hand on the teams around them.
They look primed to back up their Carabao Cup triumph by booking a place at Europe’s top table for next term.
Their remaining fixtures won’t be as easy as this, though.
More to follow…