Nightmare for Rodgers as Foxes falter again

LEICESTER 2 NEWCASTLE 4

LEICESTER’S Champions League hopes suffered a potentially fatal blow last night when they were thrashed at home by strugglers Newcastle. Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes missed out on a place among Europe’s elite at the tail end of last season and are in danger of doing so again with just three games left to play — against Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham. They were forced into a lastminute change when Jonny Evans limped out of the warm-up at the King Power Stadium and was replaced by Marc Albrighton. That seemed to have a demoralising effect on the exCeltic manager’s side, who also dropped points last Friday in a 1-1 draw at Southampton. First, Joe Willock cashed in on a mistake from Caglar Soyuncu, who had clumsily attempted a Cruyff turn, to give Newcastle the lead after 22 minutes. Then Paul Dummett doubled the advantage when he headed in from Matt Ritchie’s corner after 34 minutes. Leicester started the second half on the front foot, only for Newcastle striker Callum Wilson to add a third for Steve Bruce’s side after 64 minutes when they caught their devastated hosts on the break. Wilson then made it 4-0 with 17 minutes left when he tapped in after his initial effort came back off the post. Leicester struck twice in the last ten minutes through Albrighton and Kelechi Iheanacho but the result was well beyond their grasp. Ahead of next Saturday’s FA Cup final between the sides, Chelsea will look to leapfrog third-placed Leicester when they travel to Manchester City today, while David Moyes’ West Ham could close the gap on the Foxes to two points if they beat Everton at home this afternoon.