Leicester City vs Newcastle United. Premier League.
The King Power StadiumAttendance32,066.
Saturday 7 April 2018 17:37, UK
A goal in each half was enough to earn Newcastle a 2-1 victory at Leicester, moving Rafa Benitez's men 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
Newcastle were by far the better side in the first half, and deservedly took the lead 18 minutes in through Jonjo Shelvey - his first Premier League goal for Newcastle.
With Leicester pressing for an equaliser, Newcastle caught the hosts cold on the counter with Ayoze Perez making it two, with a helping hand from Leicester's defenders, in the 75th minute.
Jamie Vardy's goal - with Leicester's first and only shot on target in the match - six minutes from time made for a nervy ending, but Newcastle held on to record their third win in a row, with the three points taking them up to 10th in the Premier League table and within touching distance of safety. Leicester stay eighth.
Newcastle started with plenty of confidence, and were the better team in the opening exchanges. Perez almost found the net as early as the fourth minute, but his header was well saved by Kasper Schmeichel in the home goal.
The visitors continued to press and deservedly took the lead 18 minutes in. Perez pulled the ball back for Shelvey, who threw the dummy to put two Leicester defenders on the deck, before guiding the ball into the bottom corner.
Leicester were poor in the first half, and offered no threat whatsoever to the Newcastle goal as the visitors cruised into the interval, with the only worry coming when the hosts had strong penalty appeals waved away late in the half after Riyad Mahrez appeared to be felled.
Newcastle continued to look in control in the second half, as Leicester remained little threat in attack.
Out of nowhere, Perez netted a sublime second to put the visitors further in command with 15 minutes left. Perez simply latched onto a long, hopeful punt forward, Harry Maguire and Wes Morgan both allowed the ball to bounce, neither challenged for it, Schmeichel came racing out of his goal but immediately turned back, allowing the Newcastle forward the opportunity to loft the ball into the empty net, which he executed perfectly.
Leicester did get one back through Vardy, who stole in at the back post to fire home after Shinji Okazaki had knocked the ball down, but Newcastle remained comfortable in seeing out another crucial victory.
Newcastle recorded their first victory at the King Power Stadium in all competitions, having previously lost three and drawn two.
Leicester lost for the first time in seven home Premier League games, since a 0-3 defeat to Crystal Palace in December (W2 D4).
Newcastle have won three consecutive Premier League games or the first time since September.
Ayoze Perez both scored and assisted in a single Premier League game for just the third time in his career and first time since October 2015 vs Norwich
The Newcastle captain again led by example, and did not put a front wrong all match. He kept Vardy very quiet for the majority of the contest and kept things simple, making a colossal 11 clearances in the match, compared to the next highest amount - four from Florian Lejeune. Sometimes, such simplicity can make all the difference.
Leicester travel to Burnley next weekend, while Newcastle welcome Arsenal to the north east next Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
