Ruud van Nistelrooy has admited his Leicester side gave themselves too much work to do against Newcastle
Ruud van Nistelrooy has admitted his Leicester side gave themselves too much work to do in their hammering at Newcastle.
Van Nistelrooy suffered his first defeat since replacing Steve Cooper in the dugout in the trip to St James' Park. His Foxes side were overwhelmed in the second-half, having gone into half-time just a goal down.
Jacob Murphy, Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak all netted in the second period. Two of those goals came from clever set-piece routines, with Murphy's opening goal before the break also created by a corner.
Leicester had changed their keeper at half-time, with an injured Mads Hermansen replaced by Danny Ward. While Van Nistelrooy insisted that Ward was not at fault for any of the goals, he admitted the visitors let themselves down with their defending at set-pieces.
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“He [Hermansen] said he felt it stiffen up in his groin, and tried to play out the first half but couldn’t continue. Hopefully it’s a minor one, but we have to wait and see," Van Nistelrooy told BBC Sport.
"He [Ward] was ready to play. That wasn't a problem. He did his warm-up inside and then a short bit outside. There wasn't much he could do about the goals. But if you conceded three set-pieces, it will be hard to come back from."
It was a game that dealt a brutal reality check to Van Nistelrooy after an excellent start to his reign. Newcastle dominated throughout and took the lead when Murphy fired low into the corner following a clever corner routine.
Leicester were hammered by Newcastle and were forced to change their keeper at half-time
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Image:
Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
Guimaraes headed in the hosts second from close range following another well-worked set-piece, before Isak nodded home from a similar position. Murphy rounded off the scoring with a low drive past the substitute keeper.
The defeat means Leicester remain precariously placed in 16th spot, two points above the bottom three. And their manager has admitted it was a tough day for the Midlanders.
"It's a great game to look back but it's been only two weeks together. It was very positive to get four points against West Ham and Brighton at home. But this one went the other way. We are still reflecting, learning and building something together," Van Nistelrooy added.
"We will use this game for the development of the team. It was hard. It was 1-0 at half-time. We were a bit lucky not to be down by more goals. It's costly when you concede in such standard set-piece situations. Then it was going to be hard to turn it around.
"We know how intense Newcastle players are and the intensity in which they play. A lot of the chances they created were form our ball losses and they got quick in the counter-attack. We kept going and trying, but we have to take this one on the chin and move on."
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