MADDISON HITS THE BULLSEYE
LEICESTER MOVE WITHIN POINT OF TOP SPOT
LIKE AN ARROW: Maddison celebrates opener in Foxes win
JAMES MADDISON found the bullseye as Leicester hit a top double in the title race.
The midfielder celebrated his deadlock- breaking opener with an unusual celebration throwing imaginary darts.
Then team- mate Youri Tielemans sealed the points on Tyneside.
St James’ Park witnessed its own minor miracle as striker Andy Carroll scored his first goal for two years, but Leicester ran out deserved winners.
Brendan Rodgers’ men were ruthlessly efficient but continue to play down their title aspirations.
They will need to play better than this, but were a class above the pedestrian Geordie favourites to move a point behind leaders Liverpool.
Maddison smashed in from 15 yards on 55 minutes. He took up clever positions all game and was lurking on the edge of the box to power home Jamie Vardy’s cutback.
Miguel Almiron gave the ball away cheaply and Harvey Barnes broke away to release Vardy, who skipped too easily past Federico Fernandez.
Maddison’s sixth goal of the season came from the first meaningful chance of the game.
He said: “The celebration? We were all in the meal room last night watching the world championship darts.” A deserved second followed in the 72nd minute. Marc Albrighton broke on the wing and slotted a square ball to the edge of the area for Tielemans to curl in another cracking finish as the three Toon centrehalves backed off.
Belgium midfielder Tielemans said: “We had to be patient. We could have done better. They kept very compact.
“We have to take it game by game and not get carried away. It was an important win.”
It should have been a cruise from then on, with Newcastle not having scored for over six hours.
But manager Steve Bruce threw on
Carroll, right, and he netted his first goal for Newcastle since Boxing Day 2010, volleying through a packed penalty area after Wesley Fofana’s clearing header fell to him. Carroll’s last goal came for West Ham in the FA Cup in January two years ago. He had drawn a blank in his previous 38 games. Not since April 16, 2018 had Carroll scored in the Premier League. He said: “We got the goal and put the pressure on them so could have nicked something.
“It wasn’t a great first half. It’s hard this time of the year with all the games. “We came out in the second half and played a lot better and deserved something.” The highlight of the first half had been a Vardy strike rightly disallowed for offside. Leicester were by far the better team and it appeared only a matter of time before they would make their breakthroughs.
Newcastle rallied late on as Carroll caused chaos. But this was not the performance Bruce wanted after a battling stalemate against Liverpool.
Newcastle have claimed just five points in six games since the start of December, when 19 players and staff were struck down with coronavirus.
They have also been knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brentford. NEWCASTLE ( 5- 3- 1- 1): Darlow 5; Yedlin 5 ( Carroll 79), Fernandez 4, Schar 4, Clark 5, Ritchie 4; S Longstaff 4, M Longstaff 5, Almiron 4 ( Murphy 65, 4); Joelinton 4 ( Shelvey 65, 4); Wilson 6. Goal: Carroll 82.
LEICESTER ( 4- 2- 3- 1): Schmeichel 6; Justin 7, Evans 7, Fofana 7, Castagne 7; Ndidi 7, Tielemans 7; Barnes 7, Maddison 8 ( Soyuncu 78), Albrighton 7; Vardy 7. Goals: Maddison 55, Tielemans 72.