Not even the most optimistic of Toon fans would have expected the events of last night to unfold.

Newcastle United were absolutely brilliant and thoroughly deserved their 4-2 win over the Champions League chasing Leicester City.

Joe Willock found himself on the scoresheet again after he capitalised on a poor mistake from Caglar Soyuncu to net his fourth game in as many goals for the Magpies.

The scorer of United's second was much more of a collectors item with Paul Dummett getting up highest to nod home Matt Ritchie's corner.

The second half was all about the clinical Callum Wilson. Despite having a pretty quiet day, Wilson added a brace to his tally to put his side four ahead at the King Power Stadium.

In true Newcastle United style, they ensured the fans were forced to endure a few nervy moments towards the end courtesy of a late fightback from the Foxes.

Goals from Mark Albrighton and Kelechi Iheanacho halved the deficit before a brilliant stop from Martin Dubravka denied former magpie Ayoze Perez from taking them just one goal away.

Safety in the bag

Mathematically, United are not home and dry just yet but it this win has effectively secured their top flight status.

The King Power is synonymous with Newcastle winning to secure their place in the top flight with this now being the third late season victory at Leicester in the last four seasons. 

With Fulham just having 12 points to play for and that being the gap United have on the Cottagers it is safe to say that the Magpies will be playing in the Premier League next season. 

Fulham have managed just five wins all season so the chances of them going on to win four in a row seems remote.

Not only have Newcastle extended their lead on 18th place but they have lifted themselves right up to 13th in the table.

United can entertain

Newcastle showed yesterday that actually they are a team capable of playing good, entertaining football when allowed to impose themselves on the game.

Toon fans have thought for much of the season that the negative outlook that the team has played with has massively restricted the flare players in the side.

For most parts of the season, Newcastle have been utterly turgid to watch and a performance like yesterday really makes you think what could have been.

With Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson leading the attack, United can give troubles to any side in the division and they should not forget that going forward.

Matt Ritchie continues to impress

Whilst the majority of the attention might go to the ice cool Callum Wilson, the brilliant Martin Dubravka or the free scoring Joe Willock; Matt Ritchie is due an awful lot of praise for United's upturn in form.

He had a huge role to play in the 4-2 win yesterday. He showcased his dead ball ability with his assist for the Magpies' second and his ball down the channel for the third was of the highest quality.

Whats more is Ritchie's ability to defend and he doesn't look out of place as part of a defensive unite, making him a vital part of the side.

It seemed that Ritchie's career on Tyneside was going to come to an end in January as he looked destined for a return to Bournemouth and then came the training ground bust up with Steve Bruce making his position more precarious.

The way he has got his head down, forced his way back into the side and then made such a big improvement to the side sums up the true professional that he is.

VAVEL Logo
About the author