By Anthony Marshall - Newcastle United Managing Editor

At the King Power Stadium

Leicester CIty 1 (Ulloa 39)

Newcastle United 0

Newcastle United bowed out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle with a 1-0 third round defeat at Leicester City.

Leonardo Ulloa's header separated the sides at the King Power Stadium in what was a scrappy affair with clear-cut chances few and far between.

Remy Cabella saw a first half effort ruled out for offside, while Adam Armstrong and Haris Vuckic threatened for the Magpies after the break.

At the other end, United goalkeeper Jak Alnwick was powerless to prevent Ulloa nodding home Anthony Knockeart's right-wing cross with time ticking away in the first period, but after the break the stopper produced two excellent saves to deny substitutes Chris Wood and Marc Albrighton.

Caretaker manager John Carver handed Lubomir Satka and Callum Roberts debuts from the bench but Newcastle were unable to salvage anything from the contest and exited the competition at the third round stage for the third year in a row.

It took eight minutes for either side to create an opening, but while Emmanuel Riviere's long range effort was on target it lacked the power to trouble Foxes keeper Ben Hamer.

At the other end, Ulloa scooped Tom Lawrence's corner well over the top, while Lawrence attempted to capitalise on a Jak Alnwick punch but skewed his effort wildly off target.

United thought they had taken the lead just past the half-hour mark when a rapid counter-attack ended with Adam Armstrong brilliantly back-heeling the ball into the path of Cabella, who finished superbly.

But with the Frenchman wheeling away to celebrate his first goal since arriving on Tyneside in the summer, an offside flag soon curtailed his joy.

And that was to prove crucial as, six minutes before the break, Leicester edged in front.

A quickly-taken corner was worked to Knockaert and his inswinging delivery was glanced in off the underside of the crossbar by the big Argentine striker.

Two minutes into the second half Armstrong tested Hamer with a low 20-yard shot, while at the other end a Paul Konchesky volley flew narrowly wide with the aid of a deflection.

Teenage defender Lubomir Satka was introduced just before the hour-mark for his Magpies debut, replacing Davide Santon, who was making his first appearance in nine months after a knee injury.

The hosts went in search of their second goal and Alnwick had to be at his best twice in a matter of seconds to keep them at bay.

First, the 21-year-old made an outstanding point-blank stop to keep out Chris Wood's diving header before, from the resulting corner, Alnwick sprung full length to his left to beat away a curling strike from Albrighton.

On 74 minutes Vuckic almost equalised direct from a free-kick but saw his low effort deflected agonisingly wide of the upright, and that was his final meaningful involvement, with the Slovenian replaced by another United debutant - Callum Roberts.

But the young winger - who has been outstanding for Newcastle's under-21s this term - was unable to inspire the visitors as they slipped to defeat.

Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Ben Hamer; Ritchie De Laet, Wes Morgan (c), Liam Moore, Paul Konchesky; Esteban Cambiasso (Marc Albrighton 26), Matty James; Anthony Knockaert, David Nugent (Jamie Vardy 70), Tom Lawrence; Leonardo Ulloa (Chris Wood 59)

 

Subs not used: Adam Smith, Danny Simpson, Riyad Mahrez, Gary Taylor-Fletcher

Newcastle United (4-3-3): Jak Alnwick; Davide Santon (Lubomir Satka 58), Mike Williamson, Paul Dummett, Massadio Haidara; Vurnon Anita, Cheick Tiote (c), Haris Vuckic (Callum Roberts 79); Adam Armstrong, Emmanuel Riviere, Remy Cabella

 

Subs not used: Freddie Woodman, Gael Bigirimana, Alex Gilliead, Yoan Gouffran, Adam Campbell

 

 

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)

Bookings: Leicester - Lawrence (49), Vardy (71); Newcastle - Haidara (9), Tiote (82), Satka (90)

Attendance: 23,215 (4,319 Newcastle)