Perez seals the spoils for battling Magpies
Newcastle took a giant leap towards Premier League survival with success at Leicester.
Jonjo Shelvey and Ayoze Perez scored fine goals to put the visitors in control, but Jamie Vardy reduced the deficit late on to set up a tense finale at the King Power Stadium.
Rafael Benitez’s side held on, though, for a third straight win, while Leicester’s outside hopes of qualifying for the Europa League were dealt a severe blow and they are now without a home success since January 20.
Early pressure from Newcastle saw them win three corners, the second of which brought a good save from Kasper Schmeichel.
Kenedy’s inswinging kick was flicked on at the near post by Perez and the Leicester goalkeeper got down smartly to push his header behind.
Newcastle continued to look the most threatening team and they took the lead after 18 minutes following a swift counter-attack.
Perez pulled the ball back for Shelvey, who wrong-footed two defenders with a lovely dummy before guiding a shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Things could have got worse for the hosts a couple of minutes later as England defender Harry Maguire was fortunate to escape with only a yellow card after a tussle with Magpies diminutive frontman Dwight Gayle which saw him appear to strike the Newcastle forward in the face.
Newcastle boss Benitez was furious in his technical area, feeling it should have been a red card for the Leicester defender.
However, another controversial decision by referee Stuart Attwell went his side’s way just before half-time when Paul Dummett tripped Riyad Mahrez inside the penalty area. The Warwickshire official waved away the appeals for a spot-kick.
Leicester did not look like making any inroads early in the second half, so manager Claude Puel made an attacking change after 58 minutes, bringing on Japanese ace Shinji Okazaki for full-back Danny Simpson.
Things improved slightly to begin with as Adrien Silva, Mahrez and Marc Albrighton, now filling in at right-back after Simpson’s substitution, all threatened. But it was Newcastle who got