Leicester City (R) 0 Newcastle United 3: We've never seen anything like that in English football history
The dream of seeing Leicester City score again almost ignited within twelve seconds. Before the two minute mark, Newcastle were ahead and well, you can guess the rest.
Another perfunctory loss in the relegation waiting room.
You don’t need to have watched many Leicester City games this year to know it hasn’t been good. And that’s the polite version. You could glance at the table, the long list of red results (except that one lovely green anomaly of beating Tottenham) and the constant zeros next to our name. But Sky Sports adding a goal drought tracker to the Newcastle game sums up the misery in a very modern football way.
Not wanting to be outdone by Southampton stealing a terrible record we could have had, we’re continuing down our own joyless path: Eight Premier League home games without scoring, let alone winning. It’s now 12 hours since we have had anything to celebrate.
As Sky said ‘We’ve never seen anything like it in English football history’.
Newcastle’s own trajectory right now couldn’t be more different. Still on a high from their Carabao Cup win, some form of European football is guaranteed next year and the away end was packed and bouncing.
It was a strange night to be in the Leicester City stands, already antagonised by an unchanged formation and lineup, it was sombre before the team news and most of the players got some boos in the Kop. After how lacklustre the entire affair was at Manchester City, Van Nistelrooy sticking with the same eleven was a little surprising, particularly Patson Daka playing the role of whatever it is we’re asking him to do. It’s terrible however you frame it.
Still, there was some motivation for anybody wavering with attending the game. 15-year-old Jeremy Monga was on the bench. It had the look on the surface of a manager trying desperately to placate a crowd he’s already lost, but there was the hope of him getting some minutes.
The mood could have shifted drastically, had Jamie Vardy been more clinical with our first chance of the night from kick-off. We came out of the gates in those opening twelve seconds like we might just be about to aim for pride even if a win felt like a longshot.
Life at Leicester City though feels like a fairly predictable script and if you didn’t laugh, you’d cry at how easily Newcastle carved through us within the next ninety seconds. Former Fox Harvey Barnes was involved in the move but it was Jacob Murphy who put it past Mads Hermansen to put the away side up 1-0. Their first attack and carried out at a canter rather than with blistering urgency.
Conceding in the early stages of the game again? Just something else this Leicester side are making a habit of. What exactly have they spent all week practising in training and what is Van Nistelrooy saying in the dressing room? Resistance is a distant concept at present.
Hermansen will want to forget the second goal, just nine minutes later. Caught off his line, Fabian Schar almost humiliated him with an ambitious shot. The post denied him but Murphy was in the right spot for the rebound and it was a simple finish. When you’re down at the bottom, you cannot keep making ridiculous decisions, but here we are.
There were several contenders for this matchday’s Benteke Trophy but it was Harvey Barnes who grabbed another rebound. It was 3-0 at half-time and Eddie Howe’s side had barely had to do anything more than go through the motions.
Howe could have taken off the big guns for Newcastle earlier, the result looked set in stone. It wasn’t quite the second half procession or drubbing you could have foreseen at half time, but Leicester didn’t really threaten Nick Pope’s goal too often.
From frustration to bizarre
A former player getting a standing ovation for scoring a goal in front of the Kop? Yep, we’ve reached a truly bizarre point in the season. The thing that got the loudest cheer before Jeremy Monga was introduced? Also Harvey Barnes. His name on the teamsheet got clapped, whereas our players got boos for the most part.
When he came to take and corner and then scored, people clapped that too and at one point you had near enough the whole stadium chanting ‘Barnes will tear you apart again’ after singing how he was one of our own.
As a long-time Barnes defender/admirer, it was lovely to see him back and doing well, but it told you a lot more about how we’re feeling towards this current crop of players.
Some will criticise the rapturous response, even he looked slightly surprised at such a warm reception, but he’s a player we would love to have at our disposal right now. He always tried and he had a spark, that is enough to get us excited compared to the current squad.
The night was getting a little toxic by the half-time break. A few people had trickled out after the first or third goals, but the empty seats around at kick-off suggested enough people had already voted with their feet and decided to watch on television or not at all.
The rest of us stayed for the prospect of seeing Monga, or to see how many we might ship, or dare we say it…hope of maybe, just maybe finally scoring again. We may not remember quite what to do when there is a goal to celebrate again, but nobody wants to miss it either.
The odds of it are diminishing with each passing week. A couple of lively moments and half chances did insert some life back into the crowd but it all felt a little pointless at 3-0 down.
By the final whistle, the ground had fallen back into silence and emptied further meaning the boos weren’t as overwhelming at full-time. Wout Faes managed to look performatively disappointed, some of the braver players dared to come a little closer to the Kop. Most of us just filtered out, another trek back, another late night, another limp loss.
There are just three home games left now. Liverpool, where a plane will fly a banner over the stadium and there are still plenty of tickets up for grabs. Then Southampton and Ipswich to close off a bizarre season at the King Power. I look forward to the email reminding me to rush out and renew my season ticket again.
Monga Madness
We need something good to focus on and here it was. The only cheer of the night louder than what Barnes got was at the introduction of Jeremy Monga in the 74th minute. He’s the second youngest Premier League debutant and he offered some positivity, a feeling in short supply.
His 15 minute cameo will catch the eye for several reasons. Not least that due to his age, he had to sport a blank shirt with no sponsor. There is some irony that the club, despite protests and scrutiny, opted to go with BC.Game as the shirt sponsor because of the money they offered us and now the only thing keeping the crowd content is a child who can’t even don the sponsor.
Following Monga’s exploits for the youth teams and under-21s this season has offered some rare joy. He’s scored some great goals, received high praise for almost every club that’s faced him and it’s about time we finally got to see him start. His appearance seemed in doubt at one stage during the first half with the growing discontent in the stands, but he was given a decent amount of time to impress.
It was a bright showing from the youngster. He didn’t look out of his depth, and was more than happy to take on the opposition. He had some good touches and linked up well with Ricardo Pereira a couple of times. He, and the other substitutes, offered more creativity in their short time than the rest of the squad had throughout.
Ruud’s relationship with a majority of the fanbase isn’t going to be repaired based on Monga’s performance alone, but playing him does show that perhaps he’s finally listening. We just want something, somebody to get excited about and cheer on. Monga is that player right now while we lament Abdul Fatawu’s absence.
Being touted by clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea tells you how highly thought of Monga is, but this is Leicester’s chance to try and show him where we could utilise him. A 15-year-old isn’t going to save us and if he does opt for a bigger club, we’ll understand, but at least we’re getting to enjoy him a little.
No reason not to give him a start on Saturday, Ruud. There’s really nothing else to lose at this stage.
The Waiting Room
The eleven on the pitch as the match concluded is one of the more dynamic lineups we’ve seen this year. Getting Facundo Buonanotte and Stephy Mavididi on at half-time was an improvement, but also a reminder of what we could have had to start the match if Ruud would take a little more of a risk.
Their inclusion meant that suddenly Bilal El Khannouss, and his never-ending energy and effort, had more of an outlet. Frustratingly the start of Buonanotte’s tenure saw him back out on the wing, but when he was brought into the middle, things improved.
Mavididi also gave us more on the wing again and yes, Newcastle had the luxury to go into relative cruise mode, but it’s no coincidence that we did manage to threaten a little more with these players in the side.
Ricardo Pereira’s inclusion was a welcome one as well. Coming on at the same time as Monga meant he maybe didn’t get the plaudits, but having somebody of his technical ability made a big difference. He roamed straight into midfield, the architect of some good attacking moves and passes and he wasn’t afraid to get Monga involved. Wrapping him in cotton wool is sensible but we’re crying out for him to start too.
Leicester are in the relegation waiting room, we’ve already started using the R as it is just a case of when now, not if. Southampton exited this weekend and our confirmation is likely to come in the next couple of weeks depending on results. At this point, the only hope is some excitement and some pride from the last seven games.
Brighton away this weekend means we’re without Buonanotte, but Ruud had a glimpse of how to try and get the crowd focusing on cheering on the team as opposed to critiquing everything else. We have to start a lineup more similar to the one that ended this game. Assuming Ruud is still here for the last stretch, his post-match interview didn’t sound very convincing.
