Newcastle have been in inspired form throughout the campaign, which has culminated with them sealing a Champions League place.
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Leicester City registered a hard-fought goalless draw away at Newcastle United in the Premier League. It goes without saying that St. James’ Park is not an easy place for any team to visit this season. Newcastle have been in inspired form throughout the campaign, which has culminated with them sealing a Champions League place. That point on Monday night was enough for Newcastle to guarantee a top four finish. Hence, credit to Leicester for holding them to a draw. However, in the grand scheme of things, the point might not be enough for the Foxes.
Dean Smith’s side are still in the bottom three places at 18th spot with 31 points from 37 games. They are two points shy of 17th placed Everton. After the final whistle on Monday night, Smith was happy to keep the clean sheet. “We always knew that it was going to be a tough ask. Not many people would have expected us to get a result here, yet alone our first clean sheet in 22 games. The reason we are where we are in the league is because of that – we haven’t kept enough clean sheets,” he told LCFC TV.
“I make no apologies for the way we played. We felt we had to tighten up defensively. I watched them on Thursday and I made my mind up then. We needed an extra defender. The quality, power and height advantage they have from set-pieces and with the powerful runs they’ve got, with the momentum they’re on, it was not going to be easy.”
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Despite being pleased with the draw, Dean Smith concedes that their destiny is no longer in their own hands. “I had to make some sacrifices with our two leading goalscorers left out. The idea was to stay in the game for as long as we could and then get them on and hopefully create something. Then [Timothy Castagne] gets his chance in the 90th minute and the goalkeeper makes a wonderful save,” he stated.
He added: “Another time, I’d be really pleased with a 0-0 against a team that’s just qualified for the Champions League, but it takes it out of our hands now unfortunately. We can be proud with the clean sheet and we fought today. We tried to get the win, but unfortunately, we have to try and get the win and hope that lady luck shines down on us.”
The stage is set for an intriguing final day battle. In the last day of the Premier League season, Leicester City welcome West Ham United to the King Power Stadium. Simultaneously, Everton play Bournemouth at the Goodison Park. For Leicester to stay in the division for another season, they must beat West Ham and hope that Everton do not win their game. “We need to win. We’ve hopefully put some added pressure onto Everton, who need to win as well, if we win,” he explained.
“I always said it may come down to goal difference and let’s hope it does as that’ll mean they haven’t won their game and, if they’ve drawn, that’s not enough for them. We’ve got to go our all guns blazing and we’ve got to find that balance between not going too open and adventurous – making it easier for a strong West Ham team to score. There’s no given that we’re going to win that game. We’re going to have to go and perform ourselves.”
