Leicester vs Newcastle match report: Leonardo Ulloa sends Foxes into the fourth round

Leicester City 1 Newcastle United 0

(Getty Images)

Come the end of the season you suspect the FA Cup will mean little to either Leicester City or Newcastle United; it rarely does these days.

The suspicion is that long before then Leicester will have concentrated on their main aim for the season, possibly remembering that like Wigan Athletic they have been relegated in the past despite reaching Wembley. Newcastle, to the frustration of their supporters – 4,300 of whom travelled to Leicester yesterday, providing atmosphere that would otherwise have been lacking – have taken the same sort of approach under the present ownership and have now won only one tie in the past five seasons.

Those fans vented their anger on the owner Mike Ashley and then the players, booing them as they approached the visitors’ end at the final whistle. It is not yet time to chant the name of Alan Pardew, who decided to do what the fans want of Ashley and “get out of our club”; though there may yet come a period when his four years are regarded in a more favourable light.

Nor was there any vocal support for John Carver. The proud Geordie, who said he would love to make his temporary role as manager a permanent one, did himself no favours by making seven changes and seeing his chosen ones outplayed by the Premier League’s bottom club, fielding as many squad players themselves. He insisted five senior players were not fully fit but, with their touchingly loyal following chanting “attack, attack” as they trailed to Leo Ulloa’s goal, Carver’s only change until 12 minutes from time was to swap one right-back for another.

“It’s embarrassing,” he said of the booing, “but they’re entitled to do it. I was in front of everybody, because we deserved it.”

Earlier in the day the chief executive Lee Charnley had put out a statement thanking Pardew for “two top-10 Premier League finishes, including a fifth-place...as well as taking us to the quarter-final of the Europa League” and leaving the club in “a far better position, both on and off the field”.

The reported compensation fee for him of £3.5m may sound an awful lot, but it could equally be said to reflect a realistic level of transfer fee at a time when clubs are happy to “gamble” four times that amount on a striker. As ever what Newcastle do next is unpredictable.

Bookmakers have gone with Tim Sherwood, Steve McClaren (despite his denial of interest), Carver himself and Ally McCoist, with Thomas Tuchel, once regarded as the coming man in Europe, and St Etienne’s Christophe Galtier as the foreign options.

The lightweight side Carver had chosen had only one promising moment, a smart counter-attack after half an hour in which Vurnon Anita and Emmanuel Riviere set up Remy Cabella, who beat Ben Hamer but was given offside by a late flag.

Most other Premier League sides had taken up the option of having an extra day’s rest after last Thursday’s full programme. These two played yesterday because Leicester Tigers have a telvised game today and, given the line-ups, it felt for a long time like a reserve game.

Life was breathed into it six minutes before half-time when Marc Albrighton, an influential early substitute for Esteban Cambiasso, took a short corner and Matty James hit a cross-shot that Ulloa headed in off the bar.

Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Hamer; De Laet, Morgan (c), Moore, Konchesky; Cambiasso (Albrighton, 26), James; Knockaert, Nugent (Vardy, 70), Lawrence; Ulloa (Wood, 59).

Newcastle United (4-4-1-1): Alnwick; Santon (Satka, 59), Williamson, Dummett, Haidara; Armstrong, Anita, Tioté, Vuckic (Roberts, 79); Cabella; Rivière.

Referee: Lee Mason

Man of the match: Albrighton (Leicester)

Match rating: 5/10