Newcastle took a giant stride towards Premier League survival after securing a resounding 4-2 win at Leicester, dealing a blow to the hosts’ Champions League hopes at the King Power Stadium on Friday Night Football.
Steve Bruce’s side moved 12 points clear of 18th-placed Fulham, who still have four games to play, as fears of another end-of-season collapse for the Foxes in their bid to finish in the top four showed signs of materialising.
Joe Willock took full advantage of a Caglar Soyuncu error to continue his rich vein of form (22) before Paul Dummett rose unopposed to double Newcastle’s lead (34), with Brendan Rodgers’ team visibly unsettled by the late withdrawal of Jonny Evans prior to kick-off through injury.
Callum Wilson pounced on a Timothy Castagne mistake to add to Leicester’s woes (64) before making it 4-0 from an acute angle (74) following a slack backpass from the unnerved Castagne.
Marc Albrighton reduced the deficit with a rifled finish (80), before Kelechi Iheanacho halved the arrears (87) but it would prove scant consolation. While Newcastle are not yet mathematically safe, Fulham and West Brom will be relegated this weekend if they lose to Burnley and Arsenal respectively.
How Leicester suffered rude awakening
Newcastle’s inconsistency this term is the reason they have been languishing towards the bottom end of the Premier League. Following their home defeat to Arsenal, Bruce admitted his side fell below the standard that had been set in the recent games against West Ham and Liverpool, but facing an in-form Foxes in pursuit of Champions League football appeared an onerous task.
In their final four games last term, Leicester gained just three points, losing to Tottenham and Manchester United. Brendan Rodgers’ side face those two foes once more in the coming weeks, so this untimely misstep against the Magpies a week before their FA Cup final appearance against Chelsea will certainly jangle nerves
