Benitez says focused Newcastle are ‘really close’ to safety mark
Mission (almost) accomplished for Rafael Benitez and Newcastle United. The Spaniard is now two points away from the target of 40 which he believes will guarantee Premier League safety, after a first away victory since New Year’s Day damaged Leicester’s hopes of European football.
Jonjo Shelvey and Ayoze Perez got the goals which lifted Newcastle into the top 10 and an intriguing summer lies in wait for Benitez, who is waiting to discover his transfer budget.
The manager could probably be given the freedom of the city for this season’s achievements but all Newcastle fans want is for him to sign the contract extension on offer. Over to owner Mike Ashley, who surely must realise that releasing the purse strings will prove crucial to Benitez’s future.
“It would be a good achievement if we stay up,” said Benitez, with huge understatement. “How big? We can say after. It’s obviously an important thing for us, especially as the team was promoted with a lot of young players.
“Everyone knows we are really close but you never know in football, so you have to carry on. We have to stay as focused as today. When we get to 40 points we’ll be fine.”
This was another tactical masterclass Benitez, whose team were set up to nullify the threat of Riyad Mahrez and isolated Jamie Vardy up front on his own.
Leicester are hunting a seventhplaced finish to secure European football next season but were made to look distinctly ordinary for long periods.
Shelvey’s first Newcastle goal in the top flight gave them the lead after 18 minutes. With one touch and shimmy on the edge of the penalty area, the midfielder took out both Wes Morgan and Harry Maguire and then bent his shot into the bottom corner of the net, with the ball taking a deflection off Ben Chilwell’s arm.
Maguire was fortunate to stay on the field a minute later when he pushed Dwight Gayle in the face, receiving only a yellow card from Stuart Attwell. Leicester barely threatened as they attempted to respond, and there was further frustration in the 38th minute when Mahrez tumbled in the penalty area under a Paul Dummett challenge, only for Attwell to wave away the home side’s justified appeals.
Claude Puel, in the Leicester dugout, was under pressure to make changes and Shinji Okazaki was introduced in the 57th minute. His presence made an instant impact, sparking attacks on both flanks.
But Newcastle secured the victory their hard work deserved after Florian Legeune’s long pass sent Perez clear and, with Morgan hesitant and Kasper Schmeichel stranded as he considered a clearance, the striker lofted the ball over the Dane into the empty net.
Vardy pounced for his ninth goal in 11 games from close range in the 83rd minute, after Okazaki’s header across the area, yet there was no whiff of a comeback.
This felt like a significant blow to Leicester’s fading hopes of challenging Burnley for seventh.
“We wasted a big opportunity,” said Puel. “After a first half like that, it is difficult to run after the result. We should have had a penalty and it was an important game just before the break. But we have to correct certain aspects in our game and we have to perform from the beginning.” Harry Kane failed to close the gap between himself and Mohamed Salah in the race for the Premier League’s golden boot, but Tottenham Hotspur are making a late run for the “best of the rest” title.
With Salah missing and Liverpool failing to beat Everton, Spurs took full advantage by moving level on points with Jurgen Klopp’s team. And Kane did his best to convince everyone he had netted his 25th league goal of the season.
Christian Eriksen’s second-half freekick looked to have floated straight into the net, but Kane lifted an arm in celebration and made sure he told all of his team-mates that he had got a touch.
He even later told television reporters: “It was my goal, it flicked off my shoulder and went in.”
But, following a review, the Premier League awarded the goal to Eriksen – who had said he would take his teammate’s word for it – meaning Kane remains five goals behind Salah.
Mauricio Pochettino, the Tottenham manager, was not worrying too much about Kane’s Golden Boot bid, as this was another step taken towards qualification for the Champions League. “Did he not get a touch?” Pochettino asked reporters. “I haven’t seen it again yet,