Leicester 1-0 Newcastle: Match Report - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game as it happened.Newcastle cheers turn to boos An eventful week for Newcastle reached its climax with a 1-0 defeat at Leicester in the FA Cup.As if celebrations on Tyneside were not in full swing anyway to usher in the new year, the departure this week of manager Alan Pardew gave many of the fans further reason to get the champagne out.As they travelled down to the King Power Stadium in their droves on Saturday morning - 4,319 Newcastle fans made the trip - Pardew's exit to Crystal Palace was confirmed and they continued in their party spirit at the start of the third round tie, belting out their repertoire of songs.Their mood was dampened, slightly, just before half-time when Leonardo Ulloa headed Leicester in front.The Argentinian's goal was a rare moment of brilliance in a game low on quality, despite the tie being the only one played today between two Barclays Premier League teams.Perhaps the lack of quality could be explained by the 14 changes in total - seven each - made by the two managers.If nothing else, the travelling fans in fine voice at least brightened up was was a largely uneventful opening periodNewcastle enjoyed a lot of possession early on, without ever threatening the Leicester goal.Emmanuel Riviere went down inside the penalty area under a challenge from Paul Konchesky but referee Lee Mason dismissed the appeals for a spot-kick.Shortly afterwards, Massadio Haidara received a yellow card for his reaction to a David Nugent challenge.The only two chances of any note, prior to the goal, both came Leicester's way
A low, driven corner from Tom Lawrence, making his debut for the Foxes following his return this week from a successful loan spell at Rotherham, found Ulloa in space 15 yards out but the Argentinian scooped his shot over the crossbar.Lawrence then had a chance from a similar position after goalkeeper Jak Alnwick made a mess of punching the ball clear, but the former Manchester United trainee scuffed his shot.Leicester were forced into a change after 26 minutes with Esteban Cambiasso hobbling off injured
He was replaced by Marc Albrighton.Newcastle had the ball in the net in the 32nd minute following a lovely, flowing counter attack, led by Vurnon Anita
Remy Cabella provided the finish, beating Ben Hamer with a low shot, but the Magpies' celebrations were cut short by a very late flag from the referee's assistant.Their sense of injustice was compounded when Ulloa headed Leicester in front
Albrighton won a corner and took it short to Anthony Knockaert, whose cross was powered in via the underside of the crossbar.The second half continued in much the same way, Newcastle saw plenty of the ball but the best chances fell to the Foxes.Substitute Chris Wood looked certain to double the lead just after the hour mark but Alnwick somehow kept out his diving header from point-blank range
Albrighton then saw a shot fly narrowly wide from the resulting corner.Newcastle's best chance came after 73 minutes when Cabella's free-kick from 22 yards out took a deflection off the defensive wall and flicked just wide, leaving goalkeeper Hamer helpless.The Geordie fans turned on their team late on and chanted for owner Mike Ashley to 'get out of our club'.They had seen their team lose for the fourth away match on the spin and even booed the Newcastle players, together with popular caretaker boss John Carver, at the end of the game as they came over to applaud the fans.For Leicester, Premier League survival remains the priority but extending their unbeaten run to three matches and maintaining some momentum can only be beneficial to that aim
Source : PA
Source: PA