Nick Pope got Newcastle to book Champions League with a substitute game as he denied Leicester An invaluable victory in their fight for survival in the Premier League.
The Magpies’ £10m summer transfer kept the volley out in the second minute of the game with Timothy Castagne’s first save of the game, resulting in a 0-0 draw on a night where the home team knocked on the door but failed to score. along the road
callum wilson And miguel almiron Both were rejected by the carpenter, but one point was all their teams needed to secure their place among the continent’s bigs for the first time in 20 years.
In contrast, Leicester, still with a two-point vulnerability, will face West Ham on the last day, knowing that their fate is not in their hands.
Eddie Howe’s men were praised by a crowd of 52,152 when the final whistle blew, securing Champions League football for only the third time in the club’s history, and well ahead of schedule when the club’s Saudi-backed owners took control in October. 2021.
It’s been a frustrating 90 minutes in some ways – it might have been more frustrating if key midfielder Bruno Guimaraes had seen red rather than yellow in Boubakary Soumare’s early challenge – but ultimately it was the big picture that mattered.
Howe had to make a last-minute substitution after joining the warm-up when midfielder Joelinton failed to start and was replaced by Elliot Anderson.
Any fears that the change would upset his team proved unfounded as they held the game by the neck in the middle of a party atmosphere at St James’ Park, but Guimaraes were perhaps lucky to get away with a yellow card for their mere ninth-minute studs. Conflict with Soumare.
The Magpies dominated the ball, but failed to find an impressive final ball in the early stages.
Again with a high-octane start, Almiron fired after coming in from the right, and Anderson tested goalkeeper Daniel Iversen with a curling attempt for the first time.
Alexander Isak could see plenty of cannon on the left flank, but sliced a long-range effort far too wide as the Magpies piled forward repeatedly without ever really mustering the precision necessary to tell the pressure.
City tried to hit Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho long and early, and although they had some success, they met stubborn resistance from Fabian Schar and Sven Botman.
Four minutes before the timeout, Wilson approached his 19th goal of the season twice and smashed his shot into a post and then saw Wilfred Ndidi’s follow-up head shot off the line, Almiron similarly being rejected by the chop before Isak steered it. wide rebound seconds later.
Wilson was headbutted by a Kieran Trippier corner on stoppage time after Iversen misjudged the flight and the half ended goalless.
James Maddison came into the fray, replacing Iheanacho at the break, but traffic continued to flow largely in line with his team’s goal as Isak and Almiron threatened wide, although the crowded blue ranks remained impressively solid.
Iversen had to flip an Isak snapshot at 59 minutes over the crossbar and block Sean Longstaff’s 76 minute drive with a foot, but it was the Foxes who nearly snapped the victory when Pope was forced into his first save to protect the game. Except for Castagne’s stop-time volley.
[pub1]