Bruno scores dramatic late 94th minute winner for Newcastle against Leicester

A double from Bruno Guimarães helped Newcastle United come from behind to secure a 2-1 victory against Leicester City at St James’ Park.

After the match the Brazilian kindly gave his shirt to a young Geordie fan who had made a sign in Portuguese before the fixture. The delighted youngster and his Dad were happy to pose for a photo for Prost International with their sign and new souvenir shirt.

Leicester manager Brendan Rogers was forced to make a number of changes after his side advanced to the semi-final of the UEFA Conference League by beating PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in The Netherlands on Thursday night. Goal-scorers James Maddison and Ricardo Pereira were both rested from the starting line up to face The Magpies.

However, the changes didn’t seem to phase The Foxes as they got their noses in front when Nigerian winger Ademola Lookman scored after only 18 minutes when he found himself in acres of space from a corner kick and was able to fire the ball through powerfully underneath Slovak keeper Martin Dúbravka.

The lead was short lived as Bruno Guimarães prodded home a spilled ball five yards out that Danish keeper Kasper Schmeichel couldn’t keep control of. After initially blowing for a foul the referee eventually consulted VAR and the goal stood.

The match seemed to be heading for a draw when Leicester gave away the ball as they were attacking in the dying moments of injury time. Newcastle broke forward fast down the left hand side through Joe Willock, whose cross was deflected into the box and out of nowhere Bruno dived to head powerfully into the top right corner of the net to send the majority of the 52,104 crowd wild.

The 2-1 victory was only Newcastle’s ninth win of the season, but made it five home wins in a row and was an important step in easing their remaining relegation worries.

The Magpies’ manager Eddie Howe was glowing in his praise for match-winner Bruno Guimarães after the game.

“Goals weren’t necessarily an area where we thought he would enhance us but he has scored some key goals for us. He was magnificent in every aspect of his play today. He’s an incredibly passionate individual which I admire.”

Howe, however, emphasised that despite the importance of the result the season wasn’t over just yet.

“In terms of being safe we’ve still got work to do.”

Meanwhile Foxes’ manager Brendan Rogers was disappointed after losing the match so late on.

“In football you get what you deserve sometimes. We failed to control the ball at the end of the game and they then breakaway and score.”

Newcastle will now be aiming for their sixth home win in a row when they face Crystal Palace on Wednesday evening while Leicester travel to Everton on the same night.

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