Classic Encounter: Cottee & Savage On Target At Newcastle
City have in fact secured victories on their last three Premier League visits to the North East, but for the latest Classic Encounter feature on LCFC.com, we look back to a clash in the spring of 2000.
Newcastle United 0 Leicester City 2
Saturday 15 April, 2000
St. James' Park
Premier League
Leicester City closed in on a fourth consecutive top-half finish in the Premier League under the management of Martin O'Neill with a 2-0 success at Newcastle United in April 2000.
The Foxes, who had lifted their third League Cup at Wembley just two months previously, had already guaranteed qualification to the UEFA Cup, but nonetheless continued to collect positive results.
While O'Neill's men fell to a home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur the following weekend, three successive victories over the final weeks of the season propelled them further up the league table.
Tony Cottee opened the scoring early for Leicester on the North East, when his low shot defeated Shay Given in the Newcastle goal, while Robbie Savage doubled their lead after the break.
With 51 minutes played, Savage tried his luck from the edge of the 18-yard box, beating Given and sending Leicester to their 13th Premier League win of the 1999/00 season.
With City destined for their second UEFA Cup campaign in three seasons, O'Neill departed the Club in the summer of 2000 to take charge of Scottish Premiership outfit Celtic.
Peter Taylor was confirmed as the Northern Irishman's replacement at Filbert Street and he initially succeeded, with the Foxes being sat in the top-four of the league as late as March in 2000/01.
However, a bad run of form resulted in a 13th-place finish in the Premier League and Taylor left the Club the following season as City started the 2001/02 campaign with a string of difficult results.
City: Flowers, Sinclair, Taggart, Gilchrist, Impey, Savage (Zagorakis 82'), Lennon, Oakes (Marshall 68'), Guppy, Cottee, Elliott
Subs not used: Arphexad, Walsh, Dudfield
Goals: Cottee 3', Savage 51'