Newcastle United overtook Leicester City to move into second place

Newcastle United striker Joelinton won a penalty and scored with a first-half header in a 3-0 win over Leicester City to lift his side into second place in the Premier League table on Monday.

Leicester defender Daniel Amarte entered the match to a bad start for the hosts, awarding Newcastle a penalty kick when he dropped Joelinton after 86 seconds, and striker Chris Wood hit the kick in the middle of the net.

It was a welcome target for the 31-year-old New Zealander, who played for Leicester from 2013-15 and was only in the squad because Callum Wilson was ruled out with illness.

Newcastle’s strong start continued when Miguel Almiron added a fantastic second in the seventh minute, cutting in from the right before making it 1-2 to Bruno Guimarães and slotting the return pass into the far post.

Despite league football returning after the World Cup break, there was no Christmas cheer for fans as Joelinton made it 3-0 in the 32nd minute when Boubakary Soumare was stunned watching the ball from a corner kick and the Brazilian went home.

In one of the hosts’ brilliant first-half attacking moments, Leicester striker Patson Daka shouted for a penalty ruled out after clashing with goalkeeper Nick Pope, but more often than not the Zambian’s decision let him down.

The introduction of Jamie Vardy at the break gave Leicester’s attack a much-needed focal point in the first half, but Newcastle’s well-organized defense limited them to long, controlled shots.

Newcastle beat Manchester City, who face Leeds United on Wednesday, in second place with 33 points, four points behind leaders Arsenal, who face West Ham United later on Monday. Leicester ranks 13th with 17 points.

“Coming here, knowing how difficult it was, the start was really important for us. The first half hour we were excellent. It’s a trademark goal for Meggie (Miguel Almiron) and a really good team move,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe told the BBC.

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers was far from impressed with his team.

“The start to the game was obviously disappointing, we were so slow, our attitude was really bad, before we knew it we were down 2-0,” he told Amazon Prime. “We were missing a lot of things today, they were much better than us from the start of the game.”

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is republished from a syndicated news agency feed.)