YOUR THE MAN
AN afternoon which threatened to get messy for Brendan Rodgers ended in joy and somersaults.
And with a rejuvenated James Maddison back at his best, everything seems well in the world again.
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Dumped from the Europa League and with an out-of-form squad depleted through Covid and illness, the pressure was rising on the Foxes boss.
When Jonny Evans pulled up with a hamstring injury four minutes in, Leicester were there for the taking.
Fortunately for them, Newcastle were back to their sloppy worst following their first win of the season and couldn’t capitalise.
Instead, Maddison was on hand to almost single-handedly engineer this rout which leaves Newcastle back in crisis.
The attacking midfielder has been a shadow of his former self this season and has had to get used to plenty of bench time as his form fell off a cliff.
But here he was majestic, the best player on show by a country mile.
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First he won the penalty that Youri Tielemans converted the Foxes up and running - soft though it was.
Then came the moment of the game, a delicious first-time through ball to Harvey Barnes, who put it on a plate for Patson Daka.
Far from done though, Maddison then teed up Tielemens for his second before he got in on the act himself, finishing another slick move at the death to pile the misery on Newcastle.
Up three place to eighth, Rodgers’ side are now just six points off fourth.
For Newcastle, any hope that came from notching their first win of the season the last time out against Burnley has quickly gone up in smoke.
Eddie Howe’s side remain three points off safety, and with Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United to come, a nightmare festive season looks in store on Tyneside.
The Foxes may be missing seven players through Covid and illness but there was still no room in the starting 11 for Jamie Vardy, benched for the second straight league game.
Going in search of back-to-back wins after claiming their first of the season against Burnley, Eddie Howe named an unchanged side.
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Toon had all week to prepare and were full of life from the off, while Leicester only had a couple of days to regroup after being knocked out of Europe in Naples on Thursday.
And when you’re down to the bare bones and have gone 21 games without a clean sheet, the last thing you need is an injury at the back.
Well, less than four minutes in and disaster struck with Jonny Evans forced off clutching his hamstring.
Boubakary Soumare replaced Evans with midfielder Wilfred Ndidi dropping into the back four, and the home crowd were anxious.
But for all their half openings, Newcastle struggled to create anything clear cut and were 1-0 down at the break.
James Maddison fired the first warning, bending a 20-yard free-kick inches over.
Ndidi then forced Martin Dubravka into a save with a back-post header across goal.
And the goal came from the penalty spot after 38 minutes following a clumsy challenge by Jamaal Lascelles on Maddison - even if it was a soft one.
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A heavy touch by Jonjo Shelvey was compounded by Toon’s skipper sticking out a leg on the right of the box.
Maddison was looking for it and went down without any clear contact, but ref Peter Bankes pointed to the spot with VAR not deeming it not worthy of a review.
Tielemans sent Martin Dubravka the wrong way from 12 yards and fired into the roof of the net, and the release of relief inside the King Power was huge.
Joelinton finally delivered Newcastle’s first shot on target 55 minutes in, a dribbler from the edge of the box.
While the Toon Army didn’t stop serenading Howe all afternoon, the Foxes faithful soon found their voice in support of Rodgers just after the break.
And they doubled their lead after 57 minutes, with Daka finishing off a beautiful move crafted by Maddison’s genius.
His sublime first-touch pass with the outside of his right foot from the centre of the park put Barnes in behind and made Newcastle’s leaden-footed defence look like fools.
Barnes was through on goal and unselfishly squared it to Daka to tap his second league goal of the season into an empty net.
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But if the Zambian forward’s finish was elementary, the celebration was anything but as he wheeled off for a perfectly-executed handstand and somersault.
Leicester weren’t done and had their third with nine minutes to go - but only after Kasper Schmeichel saved Timothy Castagne from one of the most embarrassing own goals.
The Belgian’s back-pass was wildly overhit, and with Schmeichel well off his line it looked for all the money like the Magpies were back in it, only for the Dane to race back and clear it just in the nick of time.
And it was game over minutes later when Maddison teed up Tielemans from the top of the box after Daka was played in down the left by Luke Thomas.
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All Maddison needed now was a goal to cap a stellar performance, and it came just four minutes later.
It fell into his path after Joelinton lost it in the middle, and he played a slick one-two with Daka before bending it past the hapless Dubravka.
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