Only time will tell whether Ruud van Nistelrooy’s honeymoon as Leicester’s manager was ended or merely interrupted here. Equally, it is far too early to predict if this will come to be regarded as a watershed moment in Newcastle’s hitherto stuttering season but, after four games without a win, they certainly succeeded in making a mockery of suggestions that Eddie Howe might be destined for the sack.
While he recently celebrated his third anniversary in charge on Tyneside, Van Nistelrooy suffered a first defeat in three matches since taking the helm. How the 48-year-old must have wished he was still wearing his old shooting boots rather than watching in increasing dismay from the edge of the technical area as his team emphasised precisely why they remain in relegation peril.
As a Manchester United striker Van Nistelrooy scored 11 goals in 10 appearances against Newcastle. No other opponent suffered quite as consistently in the face of his attacking threat but now, on a cold, dank December day it was the Dutchman’s turn to feel the pain.
Not that he has lost his humour quite yet. “A difficult game?” someone ventured at the press conference. “What?” came the reply, with a smile. “My team tried but away at Newcastle is a big challenge. It was a difficult afternoon but it’s a long season, we reflect and we get better from this.”
Jacob Murphy had already missed two extremely presentable shooting chances when his first-time right-foot effort from the edge of the area flew past a slightly wrong-footed Mads Hermansen in the aftermath of a smart short corner routine culminating in a clever cutback from the influential Anthony Gordon.
Despite the home side having struggled to get going, Leicester were missing the stabilising midfield influence of the hamstrung Wilfred Ndidi and failed to retain possession sufficiently well to take proper counterattacking advantage. By the time of Murphy’s 30th-minute breakthrough, they were in utterly unsustainable backs-to-the-wall mode and Van Nistelrooy looked distinctly unimpressed with the recalled Hamza Choudhury, whose industry proved wholly ineffective in a central midfield department frequently dictated by the outstanding Sandro Tonali. The Italian’s intelligent, string-pulling performance proved emblematic of his team’s amalgam of technical excellence and high-intensity athleticism.
The injured Hermansen was replaced by Danny Ward at the interval and the newcomer found himself picking the ball out of his net almost immediately when Bruno Guimarães, enjoying himself in a more attacking midfield role, nodded the ball beyond his reach after Gordon’s free-kick was headed across goal by the impressive left-back Lewis Hall.
Ward, making his first league appearance in 22 months, barely had time to dust himself down before he was beaten by another header. This time the scorer was Alexander Isak, the Sweden striker delighting in polishing off a cross from the overlapping Hall, deflected into his path by Conor Coady.
At that juncture Martin Dubravka, deputising for the injured Nick Pope in the home goal, had still to make a save but when Kasey McAteer finally unleashed a shot it proved so tame the Slovakia goalkeeper could probably have stopped it in his sleep. In contrast poor Ward was swiftly left powerless as Murphy’s second goal, another first-time shot dispatched in the wake of some defender-disorientating footwork on Isak’s part, whizzed through his legs.
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As atonement for last Saturday’s 4-2 defeat at Brentford it was more than satisfactory but Howe knows things may be somewhat trickier when they arrive here for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter‑final.
Van Nistelrooy meanwhile has much to ponder. Perhaps significantly, at the final whistle Leicester’s manager drifted over to Miguel Almirón, an unused home substitute earmarked for a January exit, and whispered something in the ear of the initially rather startled‑looking but subsequently beaming Paraguay forward.
Howe, too, was left smiling. “It’s a big win for a lot of reasons,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure on the players and it’s a massive boost. We’re disappointed we haven’t been able to play like that more often this season.”
