Leicester City have spent 140 days at the bottom of the standings this season but have peaked at the perfect time as they sealed their fifth win in six games at home against Newcastle Untied on Saturday.
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The Foxes prevailed 3-0 at the King Power Stadium after a sensational start which saw them go 2-0 up after 17 minutes with goals from Leonardo Ulloa and Wes Morgan. Ulloa added another at the start of the second half against an awful Newcastle outfit who played with 10-men for over 30 minutes after Mike Williamson was sent off. Daryl Janmaat was also red-carded in stoppage time, as the Magpies finished the match with nine-men and their season hit a new low.
Leicester has all the momentum as they continue to climb clear of the bottom three, while Newcastle is on a eight-game losing streak. With the win the Foxes moved onto 34 points and are four points clear of the drop zone, while the Magpies are just two places and a point ahead of Leicester.
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Leicester flew out of the traps and Newcastle gave the ball away from the kick off and a move down the Foxes’ left saw Jeffrey Schlupp win them a corner. Marc Albrighton whipped the ball in and Ulloa headed home at the near post to send the home fans wild. 1-0 to Leicester after just 38 seconds.
Newcastle responded well after going behind as patient build up play saw Ayoze Perez get free on the right hand side of the box but he fired his shot wide of the far post. The Spaniard looked lively but Newcastle failed to capitalize on some dangerous moments and were soon 2-0 down.
In the 17th minute a free kick from Albrighton on the left flank took out the entire Newcastle defense and Leicester’s captain Morgan prodded home. 2-0, as the dream start continued. Newcastle went close through Emmanuel Riviere’s snapshot which clipped the side-netting but John Carver’s side looked shell-shocked after an awful opening.
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Before half time Newcastle had a great chance to pull one back as Perez played in Riviere but the French attacker slipped at the crucial moment, much to the amusement, and relief, of the home fans.
After the break it took Leicester just three minutes to make it 3-0 as Riviere shoved Marcin Wasilewski in the back as a corner kick came in. Ulloa stepped up and slammed home a penalty kick. 3-0, lights out for Newcastle.
Leicester were all over Newcastle and Schlupp’s cutback was dragged wide by Albrighton when he should have at least hit the target. Ulloa had a header well saved by Tim Krul. Newcastle’s afternoon took a turn for the worst when Williamson clattered into Vardy and was shown a second yellow, as the remainder of the game played out with the Magpies in damage limitation mode.
Janmaat was also shown a second yellow late on for fouling Vardy and the away fans continued to shown their unrest towards owner Mike Ashley as their side were 17 points ahead of Leicester two months ago. Eight defeats later and the Foxes are just one point behind and Newcastle is in real danger of dropping into the bottom three.
LINEUPS
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Wasilewski (De Laet, 68′), Huth, Morgan, Albrighton, Cambiasso (Hammond, 74′), James, Mahrez, Schlupp, Ulloa (Kramaric, 78′), Vardy
Goals: Ulloa (1′, 48′), Walker (17′)
Newcastle United: Krul, Janmaat, Coloccini, Williamson, Dummett, Gutierrez, R.Taylor (De Jong, 58′), Colback, Sissoko, Riviere (Anita, 64′), Perez (Armstrong, 74′)