Newcastle 0-3 LeicesterAway team scorers
Jamie Vardy 45 +0:51
Leonardo Ulloa 62
Shinji Okazaki 83
Who, back in August, could possibly have predicted that Claudio Ranieri and Leicester City would be perched on top of England’s football pyramid in late November? Or that a former non league striker would have equalled Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in 10 successive Premier League games?
Van Nistelrooy set that record with Manchester United and, perhaps appropriately Leicester’s Jamie Vardy will endeavour to break it when Louis van Gaal’s side visit the east Midlands on Saturday/next Saturday.
Newcastle’s persistent failure to second guess Vardy’s slick movement and defender destabilising change of pace resulted in Steve McClaren’s side being jeered off with relegation fears renewed.
As Ranieri – delighting in confounding those who mocked his appointment – waited to see whether Manchester City could regain top spot following the evening kick off against Liverpool, McClaren may have regretted likening himself to the captain of the Titanic in the preamble to kick off.
Snow had to be shovelled off the pitch on Saturday morning and Newcastle began in semi-frozen mode. Apparently oblivious to the Arctic chill, Leicester required no thawing out. Indeed for a team which supposedly prefers to operate on the counter-attack they were enjoying rather a lot of the ball.
It resulted in plenty of early pressure on Rob Elliot’s goal as Jamie Vardy’s mobility suggested the pre-match pain-killing injection in his hip, which had enabled him to start, was working perfectly.
With Vardy ruffling McClaren’s defence, Aleksandar Mitrovic was required to throw himself into a vital block in order to deny him a goal. Newcastle were living dangerously and only Vurnon Anita’s clearance prevented Leonardo Ulloa from scoring following excellent play from Riyad Mahrez.
The sense that a theme was developing only intensified when Chancel Mbemba blocked another Vardy shot. McClaren ultimately hopes to transform Newcastle into the sort of side which dominates possession but, watching Leicester monopolise the ball, that day looked an awful long way off.
If the early injury which prefaced Cheik Tioté limping off to be replaced by the rather less combative Florian Thauvin hardly helped in this respect, at least Newcastle are not too shabby on the break.
One such counter-attack resulted in Moussa Sissoko bisecting Ranieri’s defence courtesy of some wonderful skill before squaring for Mitrovic. A goal looked near inevitable – or at least it did until Danny Simpson’s last ditch saving tackle which succeeded in whisking the ball off the Serbian’s toecap.
It proved a rare moment of optimism on Gallowgate with normal service soon resumed when Mahrez played in Vardy – who else? Yet another shooting had been created but, this time, Elliot, advanced adroitly and spreading himself well diverted the danger.
The next time there was to be no reprieve for McClaren’s team. A move begun by Vardy was continued by Ulloa whose pass was met by the offside trap defying the striker’s angled run. All that remained was for Vardy to cut, cleverly, inside Chancel Mbemba and shot low, unerringly, beyond Elliot.
At a stroke Van Nistelrooy’s record was equalled. Perhaps encouraged by the infectious enthusiasm exuded by Ranieri as he saluted his striker’s achievement from the technical area some Newcastle fans, rather sportingly, joined in the applause. When, very shortly afterwards, the half-time whistle blew such generosity of spirit was swiftly replaced by a much more familiar sound track: wholesale booing.
There were, after all, probably only so many refrains of “Jamie Vardy, he scores when he wants,” Newcastle fans could take from their Leicester counterparts perched high in the Leazes End.
As dusk descended and those visiting supporters turned their attentions to serenading Ranieri, McClaren shifted uneasily on the touchline. The Newcastle manager’s mood can hardly have improved as, having met Mahrez’s ball, Vardy, all too easily dodged the usually dependable Mbemba before hitting the bar.
Once again McClaren’s players failed to heed that warning. When the influential Mahrez deceived Paul Dummett before whipping in a fabulous cross, they seemed immune to the danger from the late dashing Ulloa who was permitted to advance unimpeded before heading Leicester’s second goal. It was an excellent finish but talk about slapdash marking.
His work done, Vardy high-fived his way off in the 76th minute. Leicester though were not quite finished and when Elliot could only parry Simpson’s shot Shinji Okazaki forced the rebound across the line from close range.
Guardian