Leicester City 0-3 Newcastle: Magpies move up to second after emphatic win

Newcastle United cruised past Leicester City with three first-half goals to claim a sixth consecutive Premier League win and move up to second in the table.

Chris Wood kickstarted a dominant performance by smashing the opener from the penalty spot before Miguel Almiron glided past the Leicester defence to tuck away the second.

Joelinton headed the third from a Kieran Trippier corner for his second goal of the season as the Magpies demonstrated the clinical edge that the hosts were missing.

With England midfielder James Maddison out of the Leicester squad, as he continues to recover from a knee issue sustained before the World Cup, Brendan Rodgers' side were toothless in attack.

Jamie Vardy was introduced off the bench to add pace to the Foxes' attack in the second half, and he managed to get in down the side on a couple of occasions but there was no blue shirt to meet his crosses.

The Magpies are four points behind leaders Arsenal, who have played two fewer games. Leicester - who registered just two tame efforts on target in the final 10 minutes - remain 13th.

Magpies pick up where they left off as Foxes struggle

Newcastle were the form team in the Premier League before the World Cup break, having recorded successive wins over Everton, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Southampton and Chelsea.

England forward Callum Wilson was missing from the matchday squad because of illness, but the match could not have started better for the visitors as Joelinton was brought down inside the area by a swipe of Daniel Amartey's leg with only a minute on the clock.

Wood drilled the ball down the middle to beat goalkeeper Danny Ward and open the scoring.

Leicester's defence lacked an intensity in the absence of the experienced Jonny Evans, and Almiron was the beneficiary for the second as he glided past the blue shirts to open up his body and find the far corner with a finish he practised so diligently in the warm-up.

The game was over as a contest before the interval when Joelinton was rewarded for his endeavour with a powerful headed goal as he completely lost marker Youri Tielemans.

Leicester failed to produced their first shot on target until the 82nd minute, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's tame effort failing to trouble goalkeeper Nick Pope.

The hosts will be hoping for playmaker Maddison to return from his knee injury quickly as they seek to move up the table in the weeks ahead.

But if Newcastle can keep up this run of form, they might just have cause to dream of a new year title push.

Player of the match

TrippierKieran Trippier

Leicester City

Squad number1Player nameWard

Squad number27Player nameCastagne

Squad number20Player nameDaka

Squad number8Player nameTielemans

Squad number22Player nameDewsbury-Hall

Squad number9Player nameVardy

Squad number3Player nameFaes

Squad number7Player nameBarnes

Squad number26Player namePraet

Squad number25Player nameNdidi

Squad number33Player nameThomas

Squad number14Player nameIheanacho

Squad number17Player nameAyoze Pérez

Squad number42Player nameSoumaré

Squad number18Player nameAmartey

Newcastle United

Squad number2Player nameTrippier

Squad number39Player nameBruno Guimarães

Squad number7Player nameJoelinton

Squad number4Player nameBotman

Squad number33Player nameBurn

Squad number5Player nameSchär

Squad number22Player namePope

Squad number20Player nameWood

Squad number28Player nameWillock

Squad number10Player nameSaint-Maximin

Squad number23Player nameMurphy

Squad number24Player nameAlmirón

Squad number11Player nameRitchie

Squad number32Player nameAnderson

Squad number36Player nameS Longstaff

Line-ups

Leicester

Formation 4-2-3-1

1Ward

27Castagne18Amartey3Faes33Thomas

8Tielemans42Soumaré

26Praet22Dewsbury-Hall7Barnes

20Daka

Substitutes

Newcastle

Formation 4-3-3

22Pope

2Trippier5Schär4Botman33Burn

36S Longstaff39Bruno Guimarães28Willock

24Almirón20Wood7Joelinton

Substitutes

Live Text

Match ends, Leicester City 0, Newcastle United 3.

Second Half ends, Leicester City 0, Newcastle United 3.

Substitution, Newcastle United. Elliot Anderson replaces Sean Longstaff.

Offside, Newcastle United. Bruno Guimarães tries a through ball, but Jacob Murphy is caught offside.

Attempt missed. Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle United) right footed shot from long range on the right misses to the left. Assisted by Kieran Trippier.

Substitution, Newcastle United. Matt Ritchie replaces Chris Wood.

Offside, Leicester City. Kelechi Iheanacho tries a through ball, but Jamie Vardy is caught offside.

Attempt blocked. Ayoze Pérez (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Attempt saved. Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

Substitution, Newcastle United. Jacob Murphy replaces Joe Willock.

Substitution, Newcastle United. Allan Saint-Maximin replaces Miguel Almirón.

Attempt saved. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Leicester City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

Attempt blocked. Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Wout Faes.

Offside, Leicester City. Ayoze Pérez tries a through ball, but Kelechi Iheanacho is caught offside.

Foul by Ayoze Pérez (Leicester City).

Bruno Guimarães (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

Delay in match because of an injury Joelinton (Newcastle United).

Attempt missed. Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Timothy Castagne.

Attempt blocked. Wout Faes (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Wilfred Ndidi.

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