MX23RW : Friday, November 8 01:48:56| >> :120:15953:15953:
[monks data]
Attendance: 52,117
Newcastle logo
Premier League
Dec 9, 2017 at 5.30pm UK
 
Leicester logo

2-3

Joselu (4'), Gayle (73')
FT(HT: 1-1)
Mahrez (20'), Gray (60'), Perez (86' og.)

Leicester City pile more misery on out-of-form Newcastle United

Leicester pile more misery on Newcastle
© SilverHub
An 86th-minute own goal from Ayoze Perez sees out-of-form Newcastle United fall to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Leicester City at St James' Park.

An 86th-minute own goal from Ayoze Perez has handed Leicester City a 3-2 victory over out-of-form Newcastle United at St James' Park this evening.

The Magpies took the lead early on through Joselu, but goals from Riyad Mahrez and Demarai Gray either side of half time turned the match in Leicester's favour heading into the final 30 minutes.

Dwight Gayle looked to have rescued a point for Rafael Benitez's side with an equaliser 17 minutes from time, but Perez's late own goal saw the home side stretch their winless run to seven matches, leaving them just two points clear of the relegation zone.

Leicester, meanwhile, climb up to eighth place having now won three consecutive matches for the first time since April, keeping them a healthy 10 points clear of the bottom three.

The hosts have now picked up just one point from the last 21 on offer, but they wasted no time in breaking the deadlock as Joselu opened the scoring after less than five minutes.

Gayle advanced down the left flank before pulling the ball back for the Spaniard, who swept his finish past Kasper Schmeichel to gift Newcastle a perfect start to the match.

It could have got even better when the hosts were close to making it two goals in as many minutes shortly afterwards, but Gayle's strike across goal fizzed narrowly wide of the far post.

Leicester soon began to pose an attacking threat of their own, though, with Gray leading the charge as he drew a low stop from Karl Darlow and then flashed a second effort over the crossbar in quick succession.

The Foxes continued to knock on the door with Wilfred Ndidi the next to come close before Gray sent another strike narrowly off target, and that pressure eventually told with the equalising goal after 20 minutes.

Mahrez was the man to restore parity, continuing his good recent form in the final third to beat Darlow from outside the box, despite the keeper getting a hand to the ball.

Having spent the opening stages on top, Newcastle suddenly found themselves on the back foot and Marc Albrighton, Jamie Vardy and Danny Simpson all came close in the space of just six minutes straight after the equalising goal.

The Magpies then survived a penalty shout following DeAndre Yedlin's challenge on Vardy inside the box, with referee Neil Swarbrick waving the claims away.

Vardy had another effort which flew off target before Newcastle finally began to test the Leicester defence again, although Gayle could not sort his feet out in the penalty area and Jacob Murphy was denied by Schmeichel moments later.

Schmeichel had more work to do with just six minutes remaining in the first half when Matt Ritchie powered a firm free kick towards goal, but it was straight at the Leicester keeper and he was able to collect it at the second attempt.

The second half began in a calmer manner than the first, but the third goal of the game did finally arrive on the hour mark via a large slice of fortune for the visitors.

Gray had looked like Leicester's most likely attacking threat throughout, and he got his goal via a big deflection off Florian Lejeune as his effort flew past Darlow and into the roof of the net.

Leicester continued to push on for a two-goal cushion, but Mahrez was denied by Darlow and that proved to be an important stop as Newcastle went on to level things up just seven minutes later.

Gayle added a goal to his assist from earlier in the match, cutting inside before arrowing his finish into the bottom corner past Schmeichel.

Gayle almost added a quickfire second just five minutes later, but this time his strike flew narrowly past the post as Newcastle continued to look for a much-needed winning goal.

It was a Magpies player who ultimately scored the winner, but it came at the wrong end as Perez inadvertently turned the ball past his own goalkeeper after tracking back and dispossessing Shinji Okazaki inside the penalty area.

Newcastle failed to respond despite five minutes of injury time being signalled by the fourth official, with the result seeing Benitez lose three consecutive home games for the first time in the Premier League.

The Magpies are without a win since October 21, picking up just one point in their last seven outings whereas Leicester have now won three on the bounce under Claude Puel.

Newcastle United (4-4-1-1): Darlow; Yedlin, Lejeune, Clark, Manquillo; Ritchie (Atsu, 64'), Hayden, Merino, Murphy (Perez, 71'); Joselu (Mitrovic, 88'); Gayle

Leicester City (4-4-1-1): Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan, Maguire, Chilwell; Mahrez (Fuchs, 89'), Ndidi, Iborra, Albrighton; Gray (Okazaki, 73'); Vardy (Ulloa, 90')

ID:313740: cacheID:313740:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:7698:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Riyad Mahrez in action during the Premier League game between Arsenal and Leicester City on August 11, 2017
Read Next:
Puel: 'Mahrez must not get distracted'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
1.15am
Bengals
@
Ravens
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!