Newcastle 0-3 Leicester
by Roger Domeneghetti
at Saint James’s Park

WHEN Jamie Vardy left the St James’s Park pitch after 77 minutes, he was loudly applauded by Newcastle fans on all sides of the ground. His first-half goal had not only equalled Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s Premier League record for the most consecutive games with a goal but also paved the way for Claudio Ranieri’s team to go top of the table.

At the final whistle those same fans, or the ones who were left, roundly booed Newcastle manager Steve McClaren. As good as Leicester had been, and this was arguably their best away performance of the season, the Magpies, rooted perilously close to the relegation zone, had been bad.

Vardy will steal the headlines but Leicester were exhilarating as an attacking force. N’Golo Kante bossed the midfield, allowing Danny Drinkwater, Marc Albrighton and Riyad Mahrez to push forward at pace. Vardy grabbed the opener on half time after playing a neat one-two with Leonardo Ulloa, turning Chancel Mbemba and then rifling the ball past Rob Elliot. After the interval Ulloa, unmarked and in acres of space, headed home the second from Mahrez’s cross before substitute Shinji Okazaki bundled home the third.

Vardy’s goal left Ranieri comparing him to Gabriel Batistuta who scored in 11 consecutive games for Fiorentina when Ranieri was in charge. “I hope Jamie can also achieve this very great honour. He presses a lot then he can score or not score but he works for the team. He is not the kind of player who just waits for the right ball.” The Leicester boss was also happy that his team did not concede for only the second game this season. “I’m Italian. When I have a clean sheet I am very, very happy.”

His counterpart could find few positives from a game in which his players could muster just one shot on target. “Two steps forward and three steps back,” was how McClaren described the defeat. “We have no excuses, it was our worst performance of the season,” he added.