Newcastle United have moved into the Champions League places following a comfortable 3-0 win against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium.
A double from Jacob Murphy put the visitors in command early on before Harvey Barnes added a third against his former club in the 34th minute.
Here are five things we learned from the game.
Jacob Murphy’s key role in Champions League push
To think it was Leicester City who tested Newcastle straight from kick-off when Jamie Vardy forced Nick Pope into action. Any prospect of the hosts taking confidence from that opening, though, was ruthlessly extinguished by Newcastle.
Less than two minutes had been played when Harvey Barnes slipped Tino Livramento in down the overlap and the defender’s teasing cross picked out Jacob Murphy, who fired home at the back post. It was so easy for Newcastle. You would not have known that Leicester were playing with a back five. Or that the Foxes had nine players in the box for that matter.
It soon got even worse for the beleaguered hosts. Newcastle’s confidence was such that, when urged to shoot by the away end from inside his own half, Fabian Schar let fly from the centre circle in the 11th minute after spotting Mads Hermansen off his line. The Newcastle defender’s stunning looping effort crashed off the crossbar and the ball fell to Murphy, who could hardly miss on the follow up.
Murphy and his Newcastle team-mates rightly saluted Schar, as the visitors celebrated, but the forward has played a crucial role in the Magpies’ Champions League push in recent months. In fact, only Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak have been involved in more Premier League goals than Murphy (14) since the start of December.
Leicester fans sent for early exit
It was the closest thing to a banker in the Premier League. Doomed Leicester City had not even scored a league goal – let alone won a game – in 71 days. Digging deeper, the Foxes had lost 14 of their previous 15 top-flight fixtures.
However, Eddie Howe’s side had a job to do. “We’re going to have to be on our guard,” the Newcastle boss warned. “There are no easy games.”
This was a timely test of Newcastle’s mentality. In so many ways. Not only were Newcastle facing a side destined for the Championship – the black-and-whites were the last of the top five contenders in action. How would Newcastle respond to results around them after Nottingham Forest lost, Chelsea and Manchester City drew, and Aston Villa won?
Quite emphatically, as it goes. The scary thing was Newcastle never had to get out of second gear on Monday night yet won 3-0 on the road and sent a number of Leicester fans for an early exit after the half-hour mark. That is a statement worth repeating.
Although Newcastle could have looked to score more, the Magpies had the luxury of substituting Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes midway through the second half and Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak in the 71st minute. Geordies are certainly believing a return to the Champions League is on the cards after seeing their side move up to fifth; the away end repeatedly sang about Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Lazio and Rome again.
Geordies savour another away day
To think Newcastle once struggled for results on the road. In fact, only Sheffield United, Luton Town and Brentford lost more games on their travels than Newcastle (11) last year. In contrast, this season, only Liverpool and Arsenal have picked up more points away from home in the Premier League.
It was hardly a surprise, then, that Newcastle fans sang about not wanting to go home once more. This was another away day to savour at a ground Geordies once had painful memories of.
There were even chants of, ‘They’re here, they’re there, they are everywhere – empty seats!’ and ‘Say hello to Sunderland!’ while poor old Wout Faes was subject to a less than favourable comparison with Fabricio Coloccini.
Harvey Barnes hurts his former club
It said it all that Harvey Barnes was not booed on his return to the King Power. Quite the opposite, in fact. There were even chants of ‘Harvey Barnes – he’s one of our own!’ from Leicester fans.
It is hard to think of many other opposition players getting such a welcome at Premier League grounds this season. Barnes even looked a little confused at one point as he passed the ball straight to former team-mate Patson Daka after taking a short corner. However, Barnes’ quality soon told when a Leicester player returned the favour.
There were 34 minutes on the clock when Bilal El Khannouss’ sloppy pass was pounced upon by Barnes, who raced clear on the counter attack and fed Alexander Isak. Although Isak’s effort was blocked, the ball came back to Joelinton inside the box and the Brazil international’s shot was parried by Mads Hermansen to Barnes, who tucked home.
Barnes respectfully refused to celebrate against his former club, but this was another goal contribution in Anthony Gordon’s absence after Howe challenged the forward to make it ‘impossible’ for him to leave him out. Despite making just nine league starts this season, only Alexander Isak has now scored more league goals for Newcastle than Barnes (six).
Solidity gives Newcastle real platform
This was never going to be a night where Newcastle’s defence was going to be stretched by a Leicester City side who had not scored a goal since January. However, the visitors did not neglect their defensive responsibilities, even when ahead, whether it was Dan Burn and Kieran Trippier heading corners away or Jacob Murphy getting back to block Luke Thomas’ cross. On the rare occasion Leicester got a shot away, after the half-hour mark, Newcastle were able to count on Nick Pope to keep out Bilal El Khannouss’ effort. It was the Foxes’ final shot on target.
Newcastle have certainly looked more solid in recent weeks and the Magpies have conceded just three goals in five games in all competitions. For context, in their previous five matches, Newcastle shipped 11. That improved defensive record gives Newcastle a real platform to attack the final eight games of the season.
