Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe (right) and Leicester City Ruud van Nistelrooy
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe (right) and Leicester City Ruud van Nistelrooy (Image: PA)
Leicester City are not the first side to try to sit back and frustrate Newcastle United at St James' Park, and they certainly won't be the last. But they need to be a whole lot better than that if they have any hopes of staying in the Premier League come May.
Ruud van Nistelrooy brought his Foxes to St James' Park on the back of two impressive performances since he took over from Steve Cooper, with West Ham despatched 3-1 and Brighton pegged back from two goals up as they fought back to earn a point.
So Eddie Howe and Co were under no illusion that they would be facing a Leicester side with a spring in their step as United looked to bring their disappointing results to an end. The Magpies head coach knew talk of pressure would turn into reality should his side not emerge with a positve result, and performance, in front of 52.000 St James' Park faithful after defeats to West Ham, Brighton, Brentford and the abject draw at Crystal Palace had raised one or two questions.
However, Howe couldn't have wished for a better opposition in the end, as Newcastle were able to steamroller the Foxes without ever hitting top gear in a 4-0 win. Two well-taken goals from Jacob Murphy bookended headers from Bruno Guimaraes and Alexander Isak as Van Nistelrooy's side went down with a whimper.
The tactics were clear enough and, to be fair, have worked for others on Tyneside. Play a deep defensive line, crowd the midfield and look to hit on the break with the pace of Jamie Vardy. But whereas against West Ham and Brighton, United struggled to create clear-cut chances against a well-organised side, this was an entirely different story.
In fairness, Leicester were shorn of first-choice midfielders Harry Winks and Wilfred Ndidi through injury, while Boubakary Soumare was suspended, leaving Oliver Skipp and Hamza Choudhury in the engine room. But they were no match for Sandro Tonali in centre of the park, with the Italian in total control, leaving Bruno and Joelinton free to exploit gaps elsewhere.
On the flanks, Leicester couldn't cope with Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy, with full-backs Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall spending much of the game as overlapping attacking threats, while Dan Burn and Fabian Schar ensured Vardy didn't get a sniff all day.
Martin Dubravka had replaced the injured Nick Pope in goal, but in reality Jason Tindall could have pulled the gloves on for all the difference it would have made, although credit to the Slovakian for a smart second-half stop.
Newcastle will have tougher afternoons - indeed they might not have an easier one - but it was refreshing to see the ruthless attitude return. It may not have been quite the levels of that first half against Liverpool but then it didn't need to be. This was a side who understood the challenge ahead of them and overcame it in style.
A similar display against Brentford in Wednesday's Carabao Cup quarter-final and at Ipswich Town next Saturday should see Howe enjoy his Christmas dinner without any unnecessary speculation hanging over him.
Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes celebrates Alexander Isak's opening goal against Liverpool