Newcastle continued their advance on Champions League qualification after a resounding 3-0 win at troubled Leicester City.
Scorers: Murphy 3', 11', Barnes 35'
Ruud van Nistelrooy's Foxes once again looked well and truly off the Premier League standard and were never in it from kick-off, with Eddie Howe's Magpies chomping at the bit to build on recent league results against Brentford and West Ham.
It did not take the Magpies long to strike first against a Foxes side that continues to struggle in all phases of play, with Jacob Murphy tapping in from close range in just the 3rd minute after an excellent overlapping run from Tino Livramento.
It would not take long for events on the pitch to go from bad to catastrophic for the Foxes, with Murphy completing his brace when he tapped home in the wake of Fabian Sch盲r's long-range chip clanging off the bar and leaving Mads Hermansen for dead.
Harvey Barnes would get in on the goalscoring act, too, when he tripled Newcastle's lead in the 35th minute when he tucked away Hermansen's initial save from Joelinton's effort.
Leicester fans had seen enough at that point, and who can blame them, with many pictured leaving the KP Stadium before the halftime whistle even sounded around the ground.
Jamie Vardy nearly pulled one back four minutes after the restart, but his effort on the end of a cross from Bilal El-Khannouss could only be frustratingly scuffed.
Newcastle would ultimately steal all three points before marching back to the northeast of the country, with perhaps the only moment of positivity for those home supporters who remained coming by way of Jeremy Monga's introduction and his becoming the second-youngest player to ever appear in the Premier League.
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