Newcastle came out in what appeared to be a 3-4-3 with Almiron on the left and Muto on the right. Leicester were immediately on the front foot.
Martin Dubravka was put to work with a massive save in the third minute from a Leicester corner. He was called into action several more times in the first 20 minutes which saw the Foxes with close to 75% possession.
Newcastle had a brilliant chance in the 25th minute as Jonjo Shelvey’s deep pass found Joelinton behind the Leicester defense. The Brazilian controlled it well but was forced wide by Caglar Soyuncu and he couldn’t threaten Kaspar Schmeichel in goal.
In the 36th minute, it was another horrendous defensive error as Florian Lejeune played a pass across the box but Ayoze Perez intercepted it and, despite Fabian Schar’s best efforts, found the back of the net.
Just a few minutes later, the Frenchman made a second mental mistake. He tried to clear the ball down the left but it was a tame effort. Ayoze Perez came away with the ball and centered a pass to James Maddison just outside the box.
The 23-year-old fired a rocket into the top corner giving Dubravka no chance. Florian Lejeune just should not be playing 4 games in 10 days. It was a terrible decision to start him.
Half-time couldn’t come soon enough as Leicester City continued to open us up and looked destined for a third. While they thankfully weren’t able to get another, Newcastle suffered two more injuries.
In the 45th minute, Jetro Willems went down and had to be replaced by DeAndre Yedlin. Just a few minutes later Javier Manquillo was brought off for Emil Krafth.
170 comments so far
Moonraker15
Jan 1, 2020 at 4:58 PM
Comment #161I’ve given up on them! It doesn’t even hurt anymore! You can only take so much. Once again we’re a crisis club and certs for relegation!
TomaKaThor
Jan 1, 2020 at 4:58 PM
Comment #162Fickle *
Bambams
Jan 1, 2020 at 4:59 PM
Comment #163I was told a couple of weeks ago Bruce is really pushing the fitness levels in training. There are lighter training sessions when its within 48 hrs of a match (after or before) but in between the boys do so much running – maybe this could be down to why we are having so many muscle injuries.
I didnt expect a win today – this is how far my expectations have fallen over the years under that piece of turd AshLIE
Rochdale !!!!!!!
Welshbirmgeordie
Jan 1, 2020 at 5:01 PM
Comment #164That’s got to be ground zero for Newcastle United. Bleak
bill
Jan 1, 2020 at 5:04 PM
Comment #165Bambams,
Strange how often teams in trouble always get a lot of injuries; psychosomatic or just don’t want to be part of the sinking ship?
RUNAWAY777
Jan 1, 2020 at 5:37 PM
Comment #166Jib 3 years ago ring a bell
RUNAWAY777
Jan 1, 2020 at 5:40 PM
Comment #167Moonraker15 anytime my beloved team lost it would braek my heart these days the pain has left and it will not return in a hurry.
Phil K
Jan 1, 2020 at 8:04 PM
Comment #168What an absolute mess
I said before we played Man U we were in a false position, and while delighted to be on 25 points (a LOT more than I expected) I still thought we would be in the relegation scramble in the last few games, in keeping with Ashley’s plan, and pleasing the national media so they could continue attacking Newcastle fans for whatever weird and spiteful reasons they can’t seem to explain.
This was the beginning of the end for me. Packed defence yet still making mistakes galore and quite lucky to keep it down to only 3 – Perez showed himself an arsehole by the way – and we were lucky to get zero.
How many times has Joelinton got to play to show he’s not worth a TENTH of what was paid ? Emmanuel Riviere was dumped quickly – he was no worse than this lad. No shortage of effort, and his supply is non existent due to the fact we have a weak midfield.
We won’t get the strengthening we desperately need.
Get set for the THIRD Ashley inspired relegation, fellow mugs
Phil K
Jan 1, 2020 at 8:05 PM
Comment #169……and there’ll be no quick return this time.
Though I’d take even that if it meant getting rid of the Black Plague that is Ashley and his mob
Phil K
Jan 2, 2020 at 12:36 PM
Comment #170I can’t believe theres actually someone who thinks “keeping the score down” is acceptable.
We have played the entire season like this, and can’t complain of luck. We been VERY lucky at times and relied on superb goalkeeping and good defence (often thanks to getting run of the ball and errors by other teams players)
Now after the atrocious defending and keeping at Man U, and finally running out of luck v Everton, along with a dreadful referee (who does this too often against us for it to be coincidental) and this game where we were taken to the cleaners and justly thrashed and flattered by the 0-3 scoreline – and the idiot errors were still there, and trying to keep the score down AT HOME and a possession average of 25% or so is “GOOD” is it ?????
We are on a slippery slope and can no longer trust to luck and other teams errors. I firmly believe we’ll go down. Only this time, it won’t be straight back up. It’ll be a long stay