Leicester City were dealt a huge blow in their quest for Premier League survival courtesy of a 3-0 defeat against Newcastle United on Monday.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side lost 2-0 to Manchester City last time out, their 15th defeat in 19 games under him.
Leicester needed just 25 seconds to force Nick Pope into a save as Jamie Vardy got on the end of a Wilfried Ndidi knockdown but was unable to catch his compatriot out at the near post.
However, Newcastle broke the deadlock through Jacob Murphy moments later after some lovely work from Harvey Barnes to release Valentino Livramento down the left.
The full-back provided an inch-perfect cross for Murphy to tap home from close range.
Murphy was in on the act once again less than 10 minutes later after Fabian Schar’s effort from inside his half cannoned off the crossbar. He showed great composure to fire past Mads Hermansen.
Having passed a late fitness test to be included in the starting line-up, Alexander Isak would have fancied his chances of scoring for a third successive game.
He had his first bite at the cherry in the 13th minute, albeit all to no avail.
Harvey Barnes was handed the nod to start at left wing and got on the scoresheet against his former employers from inside the box off the back of Joelinton’s saved strike.
The goal triggered a mass exodus of supporters, with a section of the Leicester faithful already deciding they had seen enough.
Unsurprisingly, loud boos rang around the King Power Stadium at half-time as Leicester stared down the barrel of an eighth straight league defeat in front of their fans.
Now in a position of huge comfort, Eddie Howe’s side unsurprisingly took their foot off the gas in the opening exchanges of the second period as Leicester’s dominance of the ball possession intensified.
However, the hosts’ best chance of the half came near the end of proceedings when Wout Faes planted a header just wide of Pope’s left-hand post.
Newcastle’s victory moved them to fifth in the Premier League, level on points with Chelsea with a game in hand.
Leicester are 15 points shy of safety with just seven games to play. It is a matter of when, not if, their return to the Championship will be confirmed.
