Brilliant Brace from Murphy Leads Newcastle United to Easy Win Over Leicester

Jacob Murphy scored twice, and Harvey Barnes added another goal in the first half-hour, leading Newcastle United to what turned out to be their easiest win of the season on Monday night. They quickly jumped to a three-goal lead and then simply cruised to victory, hardly needing to exert themselves afterward.

It honestly felt like they never moved out of second gear—but they didn’t have to, since Leicester seemed to be running on empty. I’ll spare you more car metaphors, but it helps to amuse myself after such a dull second half.

All in all, it was a solid night for Newcastle, adding more goals to their tally and, crucially, securing another three points. They’ve climbed back up to fifth place in the league, level on points with Chelsea, although the Blues have a five-goal advantage on goal difference. It’s frustrating to think that if Newcastle had pushed itself, they could have made a dent in that gap.

Leicester had a chance right at the start, but after that, they just fell apart. It’s no surprise there were so many empty seats at King Power Stadium; it must be tough for fans to shell out their hard-earned money to watch such disappointing performances. The Foxes have now become the second team in Premier League history to lose eight games in a row without scoring, following Sunderland—clearly, they’re trying to follow in their footsteps in the most painful way possible.

By the time Newcastle had wrapped up the game in just 34 minutes, it felt almost unfair. They broke the deadlock in under two minutes with a cross from Tino Livramento that Jacob Murphy tucked away. Just nine minutes later, Murphy netted another one, capitalizing on a wild effort from Fabian Schar that hit the bar and bounced right to him. Harvey Barnes capped off the scoring in the 34th minute, showing respect to his former club by not celebrating.

After that, the match was essentially over. The second half was pretty dire, lacking any excitement as one team sat comfortably while the other couldn’t muster a response. When the highlight of the second half was the substitution of a 15-year-old who became the second-youngest player in Premier League history, you know the game was a real letdown.