Newcastle up to fifth after thumping Leicester

Newcastle United's Jacob Murphy scored twice in the opening 11 minutes as his side beat a dismal Leicester City 3-0 away to move fifth in the Premier League on Monday.

Eddie Howe's side were ruthless in boosting their Champions League qualification hopes while 19th-placed Leicester became the first side in English Football League history to suffer eight successive home league defeats without scoring.

Leicester set another unwanted club record as they suffered an 11th home league loss of a miserable campaign.

Murphy was left unmarked to slot in the opening goal from Tino Livramento's low cross in the second minute and he had another easy finish to make it 2-0 after Fabian Schar's audacious long-range effort from inside his own half bounced down off the crossbar.

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Former Leicester player Harvey Barnes increased the misery for the hosts before halftime with a close-range finish while the home side's luck in front of goal was epitomised when Patson Daka's shot struck both posts before the ball rolled into the hands of Newcastle keeper Nick Pope.

Ruud van Nistelrooy's team showed more resilience after the break and there was an impressive cameo role for 15-year-old substitute Jeremy Monga who became the second youngest player, behind Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri, to play in the Premier League.

Newcastle were able to cruise to a victory that put them above champions Manchester City on 53 points from 30 games, level with fourth-placed Chelsea and with a match in hand.

Leicester have 17 points from 31 games and look destined to join relegated Southampton back in the Championship next season.