Defensive frailties come back to haunt Newcastle as Leicester run riot

Old habits die hard with Newcastle United — and their ability to defensively capitulate even under the slightest applied pressure is one Eddie Howe saw with his own eyes at the King Power Stadium.

A Youri Tielemans double, one from a debatable spot-kick, as well as two strikes from Patson Daka and James Maddison consigned Howe’s Magpies to their eighth defeat of their so far troubled Premier League season.

Defensive deficiencies are nothing new with Newcastle United and they were laid bare in a second half which contrasted so much with the first.

For 45 minutes the Magpies went toe-to-toe with a blunt-looking Foxes side. But there were light years between the sides after the break.

A Maddison dive to win a penalty after some ponderous and rather risky playing out from the back gifted Tielemans his first from the spot before Brendan Rodgers’ men turned up the heat to leave United rooted in the bottom three and with Liverpool and Manchester City to come before Christmas.

It was a bright start by United in the Midlands, with Howe’s high press in full throttle.

Keen to pass out from the back, the Foxes were forced into some early errors, with Wilfred Ndidi caught in possession by Callum Wilson. The striker’s shot, however, was deflected wide with Joelinton bearing down on the home goal.

The resulting corner saw Kasper Schmeichel flap at the centre and Fabian Schar’s goalbound shot blocked. It took the hosts 15 minutes to really warm into this one.

And it was Maddison who went close to making it 1-0 as his free-kick dipped at the last minute to land on the roof of the net rather than nestling within it.

Set pieces, so often the stick used to beat the Foxes with, became a regular source of chances as United retreated to their own defensive third.

Again Maddison delivered, this time on to the head of Ndidi, but his head across the bows of the Magpies’ goal was palmed away by Martin Dubravka, then the mess was mopped up by Wilson.

While the first 15 belonged to United, the second was very much controlled by Brendan Rodgers’ men. And just as Newcastle looked to have weathered a storm, that man Maddison popped up again – and this time produced his most outrageous of contributions.

A defensive shambles of United’s own making with Dubravka trying to be too clever, so too skipper Jamaal Lascelles, and Jonjo Shelvey gifting possession away on the edge of his own area saw Maddison hit the ground with minimal contact from the Lascelles in the area.

Belgium international Tielemans, a target of the consortium at United if the Magpies can somehow conjure up a survival attempt, made no mistake from the spot.

At the break it never really felt like United would get back into this one, but they were far from out of it.

They made sure Leicester had every opportunity to see this one off in the second half, though.

Yet more lazy defending from Javier Manquillo played Harvey Barnes onside as Maddison’s flick over the top set him free. His ball square left Daka with the easiest of finishes for 2-0.

And while the game continued to slide from United, they did show some resolve.

They came within a whisker of levelling things up as Shelvey’s volley was flicked over the top by Ndidi and Timothy Castagne’s back pass was somehow scrambled away by Schmeichel as it arrowed towards the back of the Foxes’ net.

But, as has been the case so often, United gave themselves a mountain to climb when a Manquillo pass sold substitute Jacob Murphy short, although his lack of tackle was hardly impressive, and Daka broke free to find Maddison who again put one on a plate for Tielemans’ second.

Maddison wasn’t finished there. He had one of his own to claim in the dying minutes, to add insult to injury.

The man who sparked the fire with a dive, put the nail in the coffin late on as Joelinton was caught in possession in midfield and a neat one-two ended with Maddison clipping past a helpless Dubravka for 4-0.

This one didn’t ‘feel’ like a 4-0, but ended up so due to some questionable refereeing initially, then some disastrous defending thereafter.

United have conceded the most goals in the Premier League – 34 – but find themselves off the bottom of the table due in no small part to Norwich City’s inability to score. Goal difference is all that separates United from the foot of the table.

And if this was a warm up for challenges to come, this could be a long, long December for Howe and his defensive misfits.

Next up? Mo Salah and Co at Anfield. Hold on to your hats, because on this evidence, that could get messy.