Newcastle 0-0 Leicester: Toon secure Champions League football after frustrating draw

For Newcastle, the guarantee of at least six games in the gilded and glitzy environment of the Champions League. And Leicester, the lingering threat of 46 amid the mud and nettles of the Championship.

Oh, how different those scenarios are – executive jet travel versus a slog of the National Express highway. But these are clubs going the other way. To think that when Leicester won the Premier League in 2016, Newcastle were relegated.

Here, however, was a result that might have suited both teams. Newcastle needed just one point to secure a top four place and would have preferred to finish with a victory at St James’ Park, especially with third place still up for grabs. But their supporters cared nothing for the outcome after 90 minutes, as they chorused about trips to Italy and beyond. Leicester, on the other hand, still hope to avoid weekends in Swansea.

To that end, a gusty draw had some merit. It means that if they beat West Ham at home on Sunday, Everton will also need to beat Bournemouth to stay afloat at Leicester’s expense. So the odds remain against Dean Smith and his players, but they’re not nearly as long as they would have been had they lost this. It promises to be a nerve-racking finale.

Not so for Newcastle. They will travel to Chelsea knowing the job is done. It’s an incredible achievement considering Eddie Howe inherited a team ranked 19th in the Premier League just 19 months ago. And it was his name that they sang throughout the second half as their European dream grew ever closer.

The hosts hit the woodwork no less than three times on a raucous night in St James’ Park

Callum Wilson made an effort against the post from close range as the Foxes rushed

A banner in the stands read: “Hard work pays off. Dreams come true. Bad times don’t last, but legends do.” Howe has now risen up in the same conversation as Sir Bobby Robson, the manager who last took the club to the Champions League 20 years ago. And this, you feel, is just the beginning.

Twenty minutes before kick-off, a supporter at the foot of the steps leading to the entrance to the Milburn Stand, where thousands shuffle past on their way to the turnstiles, played the Champions League theme on a loudspeaker loud enough to hear the crowd. let it hum. The stadium’s main sound system will play that music two minutes before the start of next season.

They will no doubt have to play better than this, but Leicester also deserves credit for coming on with a result that could prove invaluable yet.

Smith’s team sheet read as much as a betting slip – to drop James Maddison and Harvey Barnes was certainly a gamble. There were two schools of thought as to why.

One was that throwing his cards in the air was better than holding on to a losing hand. The other, more sinister one, was that players like Maddison and Barnes might have something to gain from relegation. That is not to question their professionalism, but an unavoidable truth that a transfer is made easier in the event of a failure. Given that Newcastle remain interested in both players, that may have been part of the manager’s thinking.

From a purely tactical point of view, it looked like Smith was playing for a point and charging his defense with five men. After 45 minutes, they had kept a clean sheet in the first half for the first time in 10 games. They didn’t score. In fact, they had no shot, on or off target. However, Smith would have been happy. He would have been even happier if Bruno Guimaraes had been sent off in the ninth minute.

Daniel Iversen impressed, but wiped his notebook after dropping a hanging cross into the box

Another chance fell to Wilson after the goalkeeper flapped, but the striker merely nodded over

Leicester almost took a surprise final win, Nick Pope saving from Timothy Castagne

Newcastle would argue with some justification that VAR has not been kind to them this season. Well here was a belated apology from the Stockley Park team.

Guimaraes landed his studs on Boubakary Soumare’s knee, evoking memories of Paul Gascoigne on Garry Parker in the opening minutes of the 1991 FA Cup Final, an over-hyped star player. Like Gascoigne, Guimaraes should have seen red.

“That’s a terrible challenge, by the way,” Smith moaned to the fourth official. He had underestimated it. But so did the VAR officials, who at least gave no advice on a pitchside review. There was a collective exhalation in St James’ as play resumed – they knew the Brazilian had got away with it. But at half-time Leicester had also ridden their luck.

Newcastle’s shots had reached double figures and two of them – a volley from Miguel Almiron and a poke from Callum Wilson – had hit the post. There was also a Wilson header which was cleared off the line by Wilfred Ndidi. However, finishing was generally poor from the home side, who had seen 82 percent of the ball.

Alexander Isak made a challenge in the first half and remained worryingly on the turf

Bruno Guimaraes looked to be dictating play from midfield but was met with a stubborn low block

Jonny Evans held his ground for the Foxes but appeared to suffer a hamstring injury after slipping in

It wasn’t until the 59th minute that Daniel Iversen had a save to make, and there was some sort of stop too, with Alexander’s Isak bound handlebars smashing over the bar in the top corner.

At the time Maddison was busy and soon Barnes and Patson Daka joined him. Smith had kept the door closed for an hour, now he unhooked the hinges.

With the extra attacking staff – and ambition – Leicester won their first corner straight away. Still, Nick Pope, in Newcastle’s goal, remained a spectator.

So was Iversen when Kieran Trippier’s corner kick was headed out of reach by defender Wout Faes and at the far post Guimaraes somehow managed to nod into the post from barely yards away.

It was that kind of night for Newcastle, not that it really mattered.

Kelechi Iheanacho cut an isolated figure up front and couldn’t pass Jamie Vardy

Eddie Howe capped off a remarkable campaign by ensuring his side finished in the top four