Leicester beat Newcastle – now title is a two-horse race

Leicester 1 Newcastle 0

A four-horse race became a two-horse race on Monday night as Shinji Okazaki's overhead kick earned Leicester City another three points. The Foxes are now five points clear of Tottenham at the top of the Premier League table with just eight games remaining. Though Arsenal and Manchester City both have a game in hand on the leaders, they trail Leicester by 11 and 12 points respectively and in the opinion of Ronald Koeman and Jamie Carragher are no longer title contenders.

The pair gave their views to Sky Sports after watching Leicester grind out a 1-0 win over Newcastle, who had Rafa Benitez in the dugout for the first time since replacing Steve McLaren as manager.

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The visitors had their chances, with Ayoze Perez and Moussa Sissoko both going close, but the defeat leaves Newcastle second from bottom. "We know our next game against Sunderland is a derby and it will be important for everyone," said Benitez. "We have plenty of things to do and they need to rest and work hard."

But it was events at the other end of the table that dominated the post-match discussion in the Sky Sports studio with pundit Carragher agreeing with Southampton manager Koeman that the result effectively ends Arsenal's and City's chances of winning the title. "Before this game it was still a fight between four or five," said Koeman. "It will be a fight between Tottenham and Leicester... in my opinion, that's the difference between before and after this result."

Carragher echoed the Dutchman's sentiments, adding: "It's not just the points, it's how those teams are playing. You look at the difference to Tottenham and Leicester, they are playing well. They look like title winners with the performances they are giving. You look at Arsenal with the cup problem, Manchester City at Norwich. They don't look like teams that are going to go on and win the title. I think that gap now is too far. There's too much for them to do."

But Koeman, who as a manager and player, has won 11 league titles, warned Leicester that the pressure will only increase in the coming weeks as the race nears its ends. "Now it's about second or first place. That's the title and it's a different situation to what it was before the game... Before today the manager was still mentioning the Europa League but after the result, they have Champions League."

That manager, Claudio Ranieri, was his customary cool self in the post-match press conference, telling reporters: "I understand there are so many voices, not just in Leicester but around the world, all the people are talking about Leicester but we must continue to stay calm, do our job and play our football."

And Ranieri was relaxed when asked about the growing gulf at the top of the table. "I don't look at the league table," he said. "Never we speak about the title. Every time we speak about our performance... I feel now that I am just concentrating on the next game against Crystal Palace. We are so strong, we think only one game at a time. Step by step, that is our philosophy."