LEICESTER CITY (Sporting Alert) — A brace from Leonardo Ulloa and a solid performance from Jamie Vardy guided Leicester City to a brilliant 3-0 win over nine-man Newcastle United in the English Premier League at The King Power Stadium.
The Foxes opened the contest with two quick goals before striking again shortly after the halftime break, while Newcastle had two players, Mike Williamson and Daryl Janmaat sent off in the second half.
Leonardo Ulloa scores twice for Leicester CityThe hosts got the perfect reward for attacking instantly after the opening whistle, when they took the lead with just 38 seconds on the clock.
Leicester won a corner kick in the opening seconds and striker Leonardo Ulloa connected with a powerful header from the resulting set piece which rocketed past Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul into the roof of the net.
The Foxes went further ahead in the 17th minute when defender Wes Morgan directed home a free-kick that was flick off the head of Ulloa.
“It was a big performance,” Morgan told BT Sport: “We came out of the blocks firing and the early goal put us in the driving seat.”
Leicester City started the second half aggressively and they won a penalty kick two-minutes after the interval.
Emmanuel Riviere committed a silly foul on Marc Albrighton inside the area and Ulloa stepped up to fire past Krul, who went the right way, but failed to keep the ball out of his net.
Jamie Vardy and the home side ran the travelers into the ground and could have very well scored more goals had they taken all the chances presented to them in the second half.
Vardy’s pace and willingness to run into the channels caused serious problems for Newcastle and he should have scored in the closing minute of the contest, but he failed to finish from close range.
The attacker was more focused on the team victory.
“The performance today deserved the three points. We need to just take it into the next game,” he told BT Sport.
“Nigel Pearson transfers his belief straight into us. He’s been in the media a bit, taking a stance for us. We back him on the pitch.”
The three points today by Nigel Pearson’s men see them moved up to 16th in the EPL standings, leveled on points with Hull City on 34, while Newcastle United’s poor run in the Premier League this season continued.
“We have to give our supporters something to believe in. You want to see your team give a totally committed performance,” Pearson said.
“We’ve not always got that 100% right but there’s a recognition our players are totally committed to our season. The fans have helped us negotiate our way through tough times. And they’ve seen progression.
“With a couple of months to go our season was in danger of not happening as we’d like. But we’ve kept our density in our hands.
“We’ve given ourselves a good chance but we need to keep an eye on what we do day to day in training. Goal difference will be important – days like today help.”
Defeat in this EPL fixture today was Newcastle’s 12th in 16 games. It was also a 16th defeat in 22 games, after winning just twice since Alan Pardew departed for Crystal Palace.
It was also an eighth consecutive Premier League defeat for John Carver’s team.
This is their longest losing streak since 1977.
There are now talks that manager Carver could be out of a job on Monday as the Magpies look to do everything to keep their top flight status for next season.
“Leicester are a team transformed, they are playing with confidence, poise and panache,” former Nottingham Forest and Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce said on BBC Radio 5 live.
“There is a lovely feel good factor around the stadium. It was the perfect time for them to play Newcastle.
“Newcastle look a very beaten and downcast side.”
Leicester City look well set to stay in the Premier League for next season.
