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Newcastle United secured Champions League football for next season after collecting a point in a goalless draw with Leicester City. The hosts dominated possession but couldn’t break through Leicester’s low block. Callum Wilson had the best chance of the game when Dan Burn nodded a cross down to him and he turned it onto the post. The rebound came back but Wilson’s next effort was then cleared off the line but Wilfred Ndidi. Miguel Almiron and Alexander Isak also wasted decent chances on a night that saw Leicester offer no threat at all in front of goal. Still, the Foxes could have won it at the death but Timothy Castagne’s effort was palmed clear by Nick Pope. This point which could prove vital for Leicester’s chances of avoiding relegation this season. Here are how the players rated as Newcastle secured Champions League football: Newcastle United Nick Pope, 7 Probably won’t get an easier clean sheet in his career but turned up in stoppage time to deny Timothy Castagne a snatch-and-grab winner. Kieran Trippier, 5 Arguably Newcastle’s best creator by whipping crosses in from the right wing. Some were better than others with his set piece deliveries providing more threat than from open play. Fabian Schar, 5 Got the crowd excited with a volley from range but smoked it high and wide. Was a quiet night for him defensively. Sven Botman, 6 Played most of the match on the halfway line usually to restart Newcastle’s attacks on goal but was solid in shutting down any counter-attacking runs. Dan Burn, 6 Helped Isak attack down the wing with some overlapping runs and set up Newcastle’s best chance only for Wilson to hit the woodwork. Bruno Guimaraes, 5 Pulled out chips, tricks and threaded passes to try and break Leicester down. Collected a yellow card for a high tackle on Soumaré and lucky not to see red. Sean Longstaff, 7 Impressed on his return from injury to show why he’s an important part of Newcastle’s midfield. Provided an alternate option to the forward line by making runs into the box to help spread Leicester’s defence and got back to cut out a counter-attacking run from Jamie Vardy. Elliot Anderson, 6 A late replacement for the injured Joelinton, performed admirably in the midfield, linking up with Isak to good effect on the left side. Miguel Almiron, 6 Characteristically hard-working and willing to run, caused Thomas trouble all night and pummelled the post from close range. Alexander Isak, 7 Is fully bedded in as Newcastle’s go-to on the left-wing. His footwork is wonderful to watch and a nightmare for defenders, lacked a clinical touch in front of goal. Callum Wilson, 6 Should have scored after Dan Burn nodded down a cross to him, hit the post and had an effort cleared off the line. Substitutes Allan Saint-Maximin, 6 Jacob Murphy, n/a Anthony Gordon, n/a Leicester City Daniel Iverson, 7 A mistake in the first half almost undid his team’s hard work but was twice helped by the post as well as a goal-line clearance from Wilfred Ndidi. Made some fantastic saves in the second half to palm Isak’s shot over the top and deny Longstaff from close range. Timothy Castagne, 6 Was made to work hard against the pace and trickery of Isak and ably managed to keep him at bay with help from a defence-minded Ndidi. Could have won it at the death but fizzed his effort straight at Nick Pope. Harry Souttar, 7 Looked nervous early on but grew into the match and was a strong presence in the box especially against crosses from the wide areas. Jonny Evans, 6 His experience was crucial in the heart of Leicester’s back five, brought confidence and control to a defence that has been lacking recently. Was missed when he went off. Wout Faes, 6 Eager to throw himself into tackles but composed enough to time his challenges well and recover the ball for the Foxes. Worked nicely alongside Evans and Thomas. Luke Thomas, 5 Lost his battle with Miguel Almiron and was fortunate that the Newcastle winger left his shooting boots at home. Improved as the match went on but offered no threat in attack. Boubakary Soumaré, 5 Asked to do a job defensively but was useful in transition on the rare occasions when Leicester earned the chance to counter. Youri Tielemans, 5 Wasn’t afforded the opportunity to show off his attacking talents but provided Leicester with a target to get the ball too when they needed to clear their lines. Wilfred Ndidi, 7 Cleared Callum Wilson’s headed effort off the line to keep Leicester in the contest late in the first half. Did a decent job of handling Guimaraes and Longstaff. Kelechi Iheanacho, 3 Hooked off at half-time for James Maddison with Leicester having an xG of 0. No threat in a system built to counter-attack. Jamie Vardy, 4 Asked to do a thankless job up top as the rest of the team dropped deep to defend. Didn’t get a chance at goal but made some interventions from defensive set pieces. Substitutes James Maddison, 6 Patson Daka, 6 Harvey Barnes, 6 Nampalys Mendy, n/a Read More Premier League clubs ‘furious’ over delays to Man City and Everton financial cases Dean Smith knows time is not on Leicester’s side as they fight for survival Eddie Howe won’t ‘relax on a beach’ if Newcastle qualify for Champions League Newcastle clinch Champions League qualification with Leicester draw Premier League clubs ‘furious’ over delays to financial cases including Man City Newcastle vs Leicester LIVE: Premier League result and reaction

Nick Pope ensured Newcastle booked their Champions League place with a game to spare as he denied Leicester a priceless victory in their bid for Premier League survival. The Magpies’ £10million summer signing kept out Timothy Castagne’s volley in the second minute of stoppage time with his first save of the game to secure a 0-0 draw on a night when the home side battered at the door but were unable to find a way through. Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron were both denied by the woodwork, but a point was all their team needed to ensure their place among the continent’s big boys for the first time in 20 years. By contrast, Leicester, who are still two points adrift of safety, will head into their final-day clash with West Ham knowing their fate is not in their own hands. Eddie Howe’s men were lauded by a crowd of 52,152 on the final whistle, having secured Champions League football for just the third time in the club’s history and way ahead of the schedule drawn up by the club’s Saudi-backed owners when they took control in October 2021. In some senses it proved to be a frustrating 90 minutes – it might have been more so had key midfielder Bruno Guimaraes seen red rather than yellow for a poor early challenge of Boubakary Soumare – but it was ultimately the bigger picture which mattered. Howe was forced to make a last-minute change when, after he had taken part in the warm-up, midfielder Joelinton was unable to start and was replaced by Elliot Anderson. Any fears the reshuffle might unsettle his team proved unfounded as they took the game by the scruff of the neck amid a party atmosphere at St James’ Park, although Guimaraes was perhaps fortunate to escape with only a booking for his studs-up ninth-minute clash with Soumare. The Magpies dominated possession but in the early stages were unable to find a telling final ball. Almiron, who had made another high-octane start, fired over after cutting inside from the right and Anderson tested goalkeeper Daniel Iversen for the first time with a curling attempt. Alexander Isak was seeing plenty of the ball down the left but sliced a long-range effort well wide as the Magpies piled forward repeatedly without ever really being able to summon up the required precision to make the pressure tell. For their part, City attempted to hit Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho long and early and, although they achieved a measure of success, they met with stubborn resistance from Fabian Schar and Sven Botman. Wilson twice went close to his 19th goal of the season four minutes before the break when he stabbed a shot against a post and then saw Wilfred Ndidi clear his follow-up header off the line, while Almiron was similarly denied by the woodwork before Isak steered the rebound wide seconds later. Wilson headed over from a Kieran Trippier corner in stoppage time after Iversen had misjudged the flight and the half ended goalless. James Maddison entered the fray at the break as a replacement for Iheanacho, but the traffic continued to head very much in the direction of his team’s goal, with Isak and Almiron menacing out wide, although the massed ranks of blue held impressively firm. Iversen had to turn a 59th-minute Isak snapshot over his crossbar and block Sean Longstaff’s 76th-minute drive with a foot, but it was the Foxes who almost snatched victory at the death when Pope was forced into his first save of the game to keep out Castagne’s stoppage-time volley. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Juventus docked 10 points with immediate effect over transfer irregularities Tiger Woods withdraws from next month’s US Open Sean Maitland grateful to have Saracens future sorted ahead of Premiership final

Newcastle’s biggest win in two decades was a draw. After a 20-year absence from the Champions League, they are back, perhaps headed to Madrid or Munich or Milan next season. A point was all they needed against Leicester and a point was what they got. It was a stalemate to savour for Eddie Howe, a largely uneventful game to demonstrate stunning progress in 18 months. Bottom after his first game in charge, Newcastle will now rub shoulders with the European elite. Perhaps a draw means they may face Leicester again next season, though their fate remains more uncertain. They finished three places above Newcastle last year and are 15 below them now. The turnaround has been a triumph of smart recruitment, excellent coaching and, less palatably for many outside Tyneside, Newcastle’s Saudi owners. United have had an injection of funds but some £250 million has largely been spent remarkably well. But around half the starting line-up tends to consist of players Howe inherited and who were winless three months into last season. Some have developed beyond recognition. So has a team: Newcastle’s aim for the season was to qualify for continental competition. Even a Conference League spot would have been considered a success, but instead they have vaulted back into the Champions League. It is a terrific feat by Howe, whose last full season of management culminated in Bournemouth’s relegation to the Championship. It may also be welcomed by one of the world’s more oppressive regimes, with Newcastle 80 percent owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Two of their powerbrokers, Jamie Reuben and Mehrdad Ghodoussi, were applauded as they found the net in a half-time shootout. The players found it altogether harder to apply the finishing touch as they struck the woodwork three times. Which, ultimately, made more of a difference to Leicester, whose fate is out of their hands but who still have some hope; beat West Ham and, if Everton do not win, they will survive. Their plight concentrated their minds but Newcastle succeeded where they twice narrowly failed under Brendan Rodgers. He had twin fifth-place finishes from seasons when Leicester occupied top-four spots for the majority of the time. Newcastle have seen the job through. Perhaps both the scoreline and the venue were fitting. Only Liverpool and Arsenal have won at St James’ Park this season and only four clubs have triumphed there in Howe’s reign. They owe their top-four finish to consistency, particularly for a spell either side of the World Cup. A 17-game unbeaten run was, at one stage, the longest undefeated spell in any of Europe’s top five leagues. Only Manchester City have lost fewer Premier League matches this season and Newcastle, who have won as many games as Liverpool, can see the merit of the draw in the table. They have shown a toughness others lacked, a reliability and a resolve that meant they could grind their way to a point. They had a host of clean sheets in the first half of the season; they have been rarer of late but Nick Pope’s fine injury-time save from Timothy Castagne prevented defeat and spared them an anxious final day at Chelsea. They have benefited from two inspired scoring bursts, from Miguel Almiron in autumn and Callum Wilson in recent weeks. Perhaps it rendered it more of a surprise that Wilson endured an off night. Leicester kept a first clean sheet in six months, but they required assistance from the upright and relied on Newcastle’s radars malfunctioning. They had two double reprieves just before half-time. Wilson almost scored his eighth goal in six games, hooking a shot against the post and heading an effort Wilfred Ndidi cleared off the line. Then Almiron struck the post with a half-volley before Alexander Isak blazed over. Most glaringly. Bruno Guimaraes headed against the post from a yard out after Wout Faes had inadvertently flicked on Kieran Trippier’s corner. Leicester were entitled to argue – as John Terry seemed to – that the Brazilian should have been dispatched to the dressing room long before then but he escaped with a yellow card for planting his studs into Boubakary Soumare’s knee; had VAR intervened the punishment may have been greater. But Leicester got what they came for. Dean Smith adopted a policy of safety in numbers to bolster his porous rearguard, bringing in Harry Souttar as an extra centre-back and playing 5-3-2. Most contentiously – and arguably unsuccessfully given the lack of the threat the impotent strike duo of Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho possessed – he benched his two top scorers. James Maddison came on at half-time, Harvey Barnes for the final half-hour. Neither altered proceedings even if, after his side camped behind the ball for much of the match, Smith urged them on at the end. So Leicester need favours from elsewhere on the last day of the season. Newcastle need none. Champions League, here they come. Read More Newcastle vs Leicester player ratings Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron miss the mark Eddie Howe won’t ‘relax on a beach’ if Newcastle qualify for Champions League Newcastle may have Saudi riches, but Eddie Howe’s team is built on bargains

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The Premier League has been repeatedly advised to establish an independent unit in order to speed up complex financial cases such as those involving Manchester City and Everton, as the planet’s most popular competition could be mired in legal uncertainty for years to come. The Independent has been told a core of clubs have been pressing the argument, but that has so far gone unheeded. The sight of chief executive Richard Masters on Sunday presenting the trophy to City - as the club also became the first champions in that situation to also be facing charges that, if proven, could yet see them expelled from the competition - has again raised questions about the Premier League serving as organiser, regulator, investigator and prosecutor. A number of clubs are understood to be increasingly “furious”, particularly with reports of recent delays to the process. It also leaves open the possibility that all of the Premier League’s key battles - the title, Champions League and relegation - could be settled for this season amid regulatory uncertainty about the future. While City face 115 charges related to Financial Fair Play rules and Everton have been referred to an independent commission for an alleged breach of Profit and Sustainability rules, Masters has previously refused to confirm whether it is investigating Newcastle’s ownership after US court documents from majority owners Public Investment Fund appeared to contradict the Premier League’s “legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control” the club. Both City and Everton have strenuously denied any wrongdoing. The key for many others, however, is that it leaves a cloud over everything that happens. A strident view within legal circles is that the nature of cases like those involving City and Everton is so financially complex that it goes beyond general sporting disciplinary issues, and requires specific financial experts involved from the outset rather than just heavyweight legal figures. This is why Uefa and the EFL have two independent bodies, with the continental federation setting up the Investigatory and Adjudicatory Chamber and the English body mirroring that with Club Financial Review Panel and Club Financial Review Unit. Such units both speed up processes but also take discretion away from the boards, ensuring - in the words of the EFL’s own announcement - “consistency and independence”. A number of Premier League club employees have been pointing to this, as the perception grows that City’s strategy is again one of obstruction, just as Uefa figures have spoken about. Several sources describe it as a “mess”, with the competition facing pressure from both sides, but one that was “foreseeable and avoidable”. Some of Everton’s Premier League rivals have meanwhile requested their case be fast-tracked, so that everything can be settled before the end of the season. Should the Goodison Park club go down, the EFL would not be able to pursue the case, although it is understood the commission would continue. An illustration of how this could cause other complications, however, is that if the case did then conclude with Everton being issued with a points deduction, that would not apply in the EFL. It would have to wait until a period when the club returned to the Premier League. As it stands, commissions are appointed to deal with all disciplinary issues in the elite competition. Whereas the panel to form these commissions used to be recommended by the league and approved by the clubs, with the Premier League itself then selecting the individual from that panel for the relevant issue, this was changed in early 2020. A fully independent chair appoints legal and financial experts onto the Judicial Panel, and it will be then up to him to decide who should go on the Commission. It is Murray Rosen KC’s appointment as chair that City are reported to have objected to, due to the fact he is an Arsenal fan. The argument is this process has evolved to become more independent, and a stance within the Premier League has been that the clubs prefer the board to handle various issues. There is increasing debate about that, though, as figures at clubs have become frustrated with proceedings. One counter-argument is that the commissions have always been independent, but what is so important about independent units is that they do investigations and prosecutions. Some Premier League executives have also pointed to how the case of Reading in the EFL was dealt with in a few weeks, whereby the club was issued a second six-point penalty after failing to satisfy a business plan agreed after a historical breach of Profit and Sustainability limits. “You can’t have the same people charging clubs and helping them through processes,” one source said. “It’s obvious.” Beyond that, several sources have spoken of how the Premier League’s legal workload has significantly increased with the case. Some figures in that area have spoken of how it reflects the transformed role of the competition. Whereas it used to almost be a partners’ group whose main business was actually selling media rights, with many historically having boasted of their streamlined team, it has grown into one that has to deal with the most complex legal and financial cases. “It needs specialists and hard-nosed litigators who will scare the hell out of clubs to keep them in line,” was one view. Read More Financial charges cast cloud over Man City's dominance in English soccer Man City’s quest for legitimacy is a battle they may never win Five titles in six years: Are Manchester City destroying the Premier League? Newcastle vs Leicester LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Brighton’s top talents may move on before European challenge – Roberto De Zerbi Bad decisions and poor signings – where has it gone wrong for Leeds?