Leicester stay five points clear

New Newcastle manager Raphael Benitez started his tenure with the Magpies on a losing note after going down 1-0 to Premier League leaders Leicester City on Monday night.

Benitez keeping his cool on the sideline? Image Source: Premier League

For the Foxes, it was an important win that pushes them five points clear at the top of the log and with eight games to go are staring at their first ever Premier League title.

Leicester will have to thank Shinji Okazaki for the win after the striker struck with a spectacular overhead kick in the 25th minute of the match.

Shinji Okazaki overhead kick – Image Source: Premier League

Shinji Okazaki celebrates – Image Source: Premier League

This was the third time in a row that the Foxes are winning against Newcastle and even though their coach Claudio Ranieri has remained modest about their ambitions, it looks likely with every passing week that they are destined for greatness this season.

For a team that was touted as relegation candidates this season, the Foxes have come a long way! Who would have thought that at this point in the season, they would be leading defending champions Manchester City by 12 points and favourites Arsenal by 11 points?

Yet they have done more than what was expected of them. Following Monday’s win, the Foxes have now lost just once in 18 Premier League games at home scoring in six of their seven home league matches.

The Magpies under a new manager showed some signs of urgency in the opening minutes of this match with Moussa Sissoko and Ayoze Perez coming close. However, after Leicester went ahead, Newscastle just fizzled out.

It still remains Newcastle’s worst season as they have collected just 24 points from 29 games and their next two matches will be critical in determining whether they survive or not.

They face Sunderland this weekend before taking on Norwich early next month in a must win fixtures.