Bruno Guimaraes grabbed a glorious stoppage-time winner, as Newcastle United beat Leicester City 2-1 on Monday (NZ time) to take another vital step towards preserving their Premier League status.
The win moved Newcastle up to 14th place on 37 points, 12 above Burnley in 18th spot, with Leicester three points ahead of the Magpies in ninth.
Leicester went in front in the 19th minute from a cleverly-worked corner, the ball driven low into the box and pulled back for Ademola Lookman to fire goalwards, with his shot squirming under the body of Martin Dubravka into the net.
Guimaraes levelled for Newcastle on the half-hour mark, poking the ball over the line from between the legs of keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
The goal was initially disallowed, but after a pitch-side VAR review, referee Jarred Gillett reversed his decision and allowed it to stand.
Newcastle winger Allan Saint-Maximin thrilled and frustrated the home crowd in equal measure, his mazy dribbles occasionally laying the foundations for promising attacks, but often ending with him giving the ball away cheaply.
Saint-Maximin opened the second half with a couple of long-range shots that failed to hit the target before Leicester took over again, maintaining possession for long spells, as Newcastle struggled to mount any coherent attacks.
Neither side created much of note until the dying moments, when Willock broke down the left before crossing for Brazilian Guimaraes, who threw himself at the ball to head it into the net, sending the home crowd into ecstasy.
The 24-year-old was yellow-carded for taking off his shirt in celebration, and after the final whistle he threw it to a young fan in the stands, a memento of an afternoon in which Newcastle looked to have finally put enough distance between themselves and the bottom sides to survive.
Meanwhile, West Ham United midfielder Tomas Soucek scored his fifth league goal of the season to cancel out Burnley forward Wout Weghorst's first-half strike and snatch a 1-1 draw against their managerless opponents at the London Stadium.
Soucek pounced to level the scores after a curling free kick by Manuel Lanzini glanced off Weghorst and into his path in the 74th minute to deny Burnley caretaker Mike Jackson a first win, after they sacked long-serving boss Sean Dyche on Saturday.
The result also denied 18th-placed Burnley the opportunity to close the gap on Everton above them to one point, heaping the pressure on the team with seven matches left in the season to avoid the drop to the second-tier Championship.
Reuters.
