It was a hard-fought affair between Leicester City and Newcastle United at the King Power Stadium as the visitors got the better of the hosts by 0-1. Ayoze Perez notched up the only goal of the match via a brilliant header in the first half to get his side all three points.
The Foxes, however, started well as they kept putting pressure on the Magpies from the word go. The trio of Jamaal Lascelles, Paul Dummett and Fabian Schar did well to cope with the threat from Jamie Vardy and Demarai Gray. Matt Ritchie led the counter-attack as he and Ki Sung-yueng linked up well to capitalise on the acres of space offered to them by the faulty backtracking of Ricardo. Ritchie delivered a pinpoint cross into the box to feed Perez as he found the back of the net with a goal that even the great Alan Shearer would have been proud of. The Foxes were wasteful in front of the goal which only helped the cause for the Magpies.
Here is how the Newcastle United players were rated from their win against Leicester City.
Martin Dúbravka: 7
Competent and confident display in goal from the Slovakian ace. Went full stretch in the first half to save a quickfire shot from Ben Chilwell. Left the field with a well deserved clean sheet.
Javier Manquillo: 6
Looked a little shaky in the first half. Recovered well as the match progressed and kept Harvey Barnes mostly quiet in the second half.
Fabian Schär: 6
Vied well against the likes of Vardy and Iheanacho in the second half. Picked up a yellow card in a tussle with Harry Maguire.
Jamaal Lascelles: 7
Kept breathing down the neck of Vardy for the most part of the match. A calm and composed performance from the Newcastle skipper in the heart of the backline.
Paul Dummett: 7
Did a decent job as a makeshift centre back. Kept his side out of harm’s way with his well-timed challenges and interceptions.
Matt Ritchie: 8
Kept probing with his brilliant passing and crossing. Took full advantage of the faulty defending by Ricardo and the acres of space he had on offer. Linked up well with Ki to get the ball in the box with pinpoint precision which resulted in the goal.
Ki Sung-yueng: 7
A solid performance as he built the attacks from the midfield. Was a major upgrade over Mo Diame. Took a few knocks as well.
Isaac Hayden: 6
Good composed performance in the second half after playing catchup with Tielemans for the most part of the first half. Kept getting the ball into the danger area.
Miguel Almirón: 6
His darting runs caused a few problems in the first half for the Leicester defence. Looked sedated in the second half though.
Ayoze Pérez: 7
Couldn’t have picked a better time to come back to form. His sweetly taken header was good enough to beat both Wes Morgan and Kasper Schmeichel in one go. Had a few more shots on goal but could not notch up a brace.
Salomón Rondón: 6.5
His physicality was a plus against the likes of Harry Maguire and Wes Morgan. Was unlucky to hit the bar in the first half from a free kick. Looked fatigued towards the end of the match though.
Substitutes
Christian Atsu: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
Mohamed Diamé: NA
Played too little to warrant a rating.
