For the first time in more than two decades, the storied Newcastle United returned to the battle of the stars.
Newcastle played Leicester City to a goalless draw in the 37th round of the 2022/23 Premier League season at St. James’ Park on Wednesday (Aug. 23).
Third-place Newcastle has 70 points (19 wins, 13 draws, 5 losses), four points clear of fifth-place Liverpool (19 wins, 9 draws, 9 losses, 66 points), which qualifies for next season’s Champions League regardless of the result with one game remaining in the league schedule.
Newcastle started in a 4-3-3 formation. Nick Pope donned the gloves in goal, while Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schurrle, Sven Boatman, and Dan Byrne formed the defense.
Sean Ginstaff, Bruno Guimarães, and Elliott Anderson in the midfield and Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson, and Alexander Isaacs up front.
The visitors, Leicester, lined up in a 5-3-2 formation. Luke Thomas, Utpars, Jonny Evans, Harry Souttar, and Timothy Castaigne made up the back five, with Daniel Sturridge in goal.
Boubacar Soumare, Yuri Tillemans, and Wilfred Ndidi held down the middle, while Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho attacked.
It was a dominant performance from Newcastle against a Leicester side that was slumped to 18th in the table. Leicester dropped deep and played a defensive game. The first half ended with Newcastle unable to find the back of the net.
In the second half, Newcastle continued to dominate possession and look to score. Bruno Guimarães missed a crucial header, but the Magpies were able to hold off Leicester’s late attack to earn a point.
“We’re going to Italy,” the home fans chanted at the end of the game, expressing the excitement of competing in Europe.
Newcastle achieved their goal, qualifying for the Champions League next season. It had been 21 years since their last Champions League appearance in 2002/03. In 2003/04, the club made it to the third round of the Champions League qualifiers before falling to Partizan (Russia) on penalties.
After the game, manager Eddie Howe told Sky Sports: “We will be thinking about next season over the summer. We don’t want to go too far beyond what we’ve achieved. “We don’t want to go too far beyond what we’ve achieved, we’re realistic that there will be more games and it’s a challenge for us 메이저사이트.