Newcastle were the dominant side from the very beginning, pinning the Foxes deep in their half for most of the game. Over the course of the match, the Magpies had an incredible 23 shots in total, forcing Leicester goalkeeper Daniel Iversen to make four saves, while the visitors failed to manage a single attempt until the 93rd minute. Alexander Isak, Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron should have scored from one of the 12 efforts they had between them, while Bruno Guimaraes came agonisingly close with a header from inside the six-yard box.
Instead, it was Leicester’s Timothy Castagne who came close to deciding the game and giving the Foxes’ hopes of avoiding relegation a huge boost with a dangerous effort late on, but he was denied by Nick Pope.
In the end, the teams shared the spoils and it was Newcastle who were celebrating as they made their return to the Champions League group stage after a 20-year wait.
Midfielder Wilfried Ndidi put in an excellent performance to keep Leicester level and give their survival hopes a slight boost. He put in plenty of strong tackles to win the ball and made an incredible clearance off the line to deny Wilson a goal.
Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes almost put his side at a disadvantage just eight minutes in when he caught Boubakary Soumare on the knee with a high boot, but he was lucky to escape with a yellow card instead of a red. The Brazilian could have turned the hero when he got on the end of a corner and headed towards goal from close range but somehow ended up hitting the post.
WHAT NEXT? United head into their last game of the season against Chelsea safe in the knowledge that they will be in the Champions League next season, while Leicester need to win against West Ham and Everton to lose on the final matchday.
