Leicester 1-0 Newcastle: Shinji Okazaki's acrobatic strike regains Foxes' five-point lead at the top as Rafa Benitez loses first match

It was fitting that a bicycle kick should resolve this game. Leicester are pedalling away from the rest now. They have broken free of the peloton and are powering towards the finish line. With this victory, Leicester moved five points clear again. It is an exhausting race but they are showing no great sign of fatigue, yet.

It is easy to forget that each week we are watching the biggest game in the history of Leicester City Football Club. The trip to Watford was, this was, and now the fixture against Crystal Palace on Saturday will be.

It is almost as if the magnitude of it hasn’t sunk in. With two minutes remaining, the normally cool Claudio Ranieri suddenly began waving his arms furiously to rouse the crowd and inspire the team. They had grown a little subdued as Newcastle grew more assertive in the second half. 

Leicester striker Shinji Okazaki (centre) wheels away to celebrate his goal after putting the league leaders ahead against Newcastle

Japan international Okazaki produces an overhead kick following Jamie Vardy's flick-on to break the deadlock at the King Power Stadium

The Newcastle goalkeeper is unable to keep the striker's acrobatic effort out as the Premier League leaders take a deserved 1-0 advantage

The Leicester players jubilantly celebrate their first-half opener as their fairytale season shows no signs of slowing down just yet 

The Premier League leaders celebrate at the full-time whistle after regaining their five-point lead at the top of the table on Monday night

MATCH FACTS, PLAYER RATINGS, PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE 

LEICESTER (4-4-2): Schmeichel 6.5, Simpson 6.5, Morgan 7, Huth 7, Fuchs 6.5, Mahrez 7.5, Kante 7.5, Drinkwater 7.5, Albrighton 8 (Ulloa 6, 76), Okazaki 7.5 (Schlupp 7, 65), Vardy 7

Subs not used: Amartey, Gray, Wasilewski, Schwarzer, Inler

Goal: Okazaki 25 

Manager: Ranieri 7 

NEWCASTLE (4-2-3-1): Elliot 6, Janmaat 6, Taylor 5, Lascelles 6.5, Colback 6,5, Anita 5 (Townsend 6, 56), Shelvey 6 (Doumbia 87), Sissoko 6.5, Perez 6.5 (De Jong 5, 77), Wijnaldum 6.5, Mitrovic 6.5

Subs not used: Saivet, Darlow, Riviere, Sterry

Manager: Benitez 7

Referee: Craig Pawson 7

Attendance: 31,824

Player ratings by Laurie Whitwell  

Shinji Okazaki (No 20) acrobatically gives Leicester the lead with an overhead kick in the 25th minute. CLICK HERE to view more of our brilliant Match Zone service. 

Ranieri appeared to want recognition of what they were witnessing, Leicester five points clear in mid-March. The fans responded and so did Leicester’s players, closing the door on Newcastle through the three minutes of additional time. 

They will not win the league smiling and throwing rose petals to the audience, because nobody does, but they are going to take some stopping now. This was not an easy fixture but Leicester were comfortable, despite the presence of Rafael Benitez in the technical area for Newcastle.

Pessimists may look at Leicester’s slender margins of victory in recent matches but the fact is that is all they need, now. Chelsea were in similar mode by this stage of last season, eking out victories — what we have we hold — and nobody doubted them.

Of course they didn’t, because they were Chelsea and managed by serial title winner Jose Mourinho. Leicester are Leicester, and we cannot compute the idea of champions with that name, so we doubt, despite the mathematical evidence before our eyes. 

Yet when no less a judge than Sir Alex Ferguson predicts they will win the title with as many as three games to spare, perhaps it is time to have faith. These are good results Leicester are getting. Good results in tricky games. It was difficult to play Newcastle. New manager, players suddenly keen to impress, fighting for their lives at the wrong end of the table.

Rafa Benitez looks on from the King Power Stadium touchline prior to taking charge of his first match as Newcastle manager 

Newcastle captain Jonjo Shelvey (centre), who was signed by Benitez at Liverpool, competes for the ball with Leicester's Okazaki (right)

Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic enjoyed a bright start in Monday night's game and is pictured shooting at Danny Simpson

Leicester star striker Jamie Vardy, who cut a lonely figure in the opening 20 minutes, throws his arms in the air during the first half

Vardy showcases his technical ability to control a high ball but did not add to his Premier League goals tally of 19 against Newcastle

Leicester midfielder N'golo Kante (left) and Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez (right) battle for possession in the first half on Monday night

Without making it look simple, Leicester did a good, professional job. They took the lead after 25 minutes and held it, as potential champions do. They found a way to win. Having taken all three points in a similarly tough encounter at Watford — Arsenal found them no pushover on Sunday, you will notice — with a cracking goal from Riyad Mahrez, this was settled by another splendid finish.

Marc Albrighton crossed and Steven Taylor just couldn’t get sufficient purchase on his header to clear. The ball went to Jamie Vardy at the far post. He had no right to win it, surrounded by taller men, but headed it back across the area where Shinji Okazaki flipped acrobatically in the air and executed a perfect bicycle kick, the ball going sharply down to leave goalkeeper Robert Elliot with no chance.

It was only Okazaki’s fifth league goal of the season, but it was a big one.

Benitez was always going to find it hard to devise a way to win here after just three training sessions, but he is an excellent tactical organiser and knew how to make it harder for Leicester. No grand plan, all teams are sitting deeper to combat Vardy now, but this was a game of few chances — even fewer at the other end, really, where Newcastle’s forwards displayed an aversion to shooting.

They looked busier than in recent matches under Steve McClaren but will have to show greater ambition if they are to avoid relegation. Jonjo Shelvey has been hailed as a potential saviour but his passing here was way off and he was replaced late in the second half, eclipsed by Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater in midfield, a fact that should rightly be reflected when Roy Hodgson picks his England squad this Thursday.

Supporters of Mark Noble will look on with mystification if Shelvey is championed ahead of their man again, too. 

With 24 minutes on the clock and neither side yet to register a shot on target, Okazaki broke the deadlock with a great piece of skill

Okazaki connected perfectly with with the ball and pulled off an excellent bicycle kick which kept Leicester five points clear at the top 

Vardy (right) points to his strike partner and playmaker Riyad Mahrez joins in on the celebrations after the Foxes open the scoring 

Vardy and Danny Drinkwater, who could both represent England at Euro 2016, jubilantly celebrate Okazaki's stunning first-half opener 

Television replays show Vardy (No 9) was in an offside position when Marc Albrighton delivered the ball into the Newcastle penalty area

Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot was a dejected figure as his team-mates head up to the centre circle moments after conceding the opener

Leicester got into their stride after breaking the deadlock, with England striker Vardy finding space in Newcastle's half on many occasions 

The odd effort by Ayoze Perez aside, Leicester had the game largely under control. Benitez did his best to pull strings from the touchline but plainly there is a lot of work to do.

His last game involving an English team was Chelsea’s victorious Europa League final against Benfica, and at times Benitez must have wondered what ladder he walked under to end up manager of this lot.

It could be a great club, have no doubt of that. Indeed, looking at the identity of the current Premier League leaders, Newcastle’s followers will feel more than ever that their club underachieve.

Yet it is more than mere misfortune that afflicts Newcastle. This is another calamity of a season, despite the appointment of a new manager in Steve McClaren and the expensive acquisition of several players. McClaren now gone, the optimism around the signings long faded, relegation’s spectre looming, it is Benitez left to try to rebuild from a position of weakness. At the start of the season a first game against Leicester would have been considered a decent break. Not any more.

Leicester are the team in form, probably the only club in the top four not looking anxiously over their shoulders right now. Tottenham, certainly Arsenal and Manchester City, all must fear being chased down. Leicester, the team everybody felt would crack, have been taking the pressure in their stride. So it was here for much of the game.  

Shelvey cuts a thoughtful figure as Newcastle struggle to match Leicester during their Premier League clash at the King Power Stadium

Former Manchester United midfielder Drinkwater leaps high to win a header ahead of Newcastle playmaker Georginio Wijnaldum (right)

Former Real Madrid manager Benitez, taking charge of his first match as Newcastle manager, delivers instructions to Ayoze Perez (left)

Okazaki of Leicester and Newcastle defender Jamaal Lascelles, making his 11th league appearance of the season, challenge for the ball

Former Swansea midfielder Shelvey is beaten to the ball by Okazaki, who was eventually replaced by Jeffrey Schlupp in the second half

Okazaki, the scorer of Leicester's first-half goal, is congratulated by manager Claudio Ranieri after he is substituted on Monday night

Newcastle enjoyed the fillip of managerial change and took advantage of a cautious start by Leicester, Perez curling a shot well wide after three minutes and Moussa Sissoko unable to steer a far post header on target, but gradually their threat faded.

Mahrez had Leicester’s first real chance of the game, cutting inside to unleash a fierce shot which Perez deflected wide with a diving header. From the corner, Albrighton whipped one on to the head of Robert Huth, who was impeded but still came close.

Minutes after Okazaki’s goal another good opportunity presented itself. Albrighton had Taylor in all kinds of trouble, backing off and backing off, as he advanced on goal. Eventually, he put the defender out of his misery by trying a shot that travelled narrowly wide of the far post.

And on it goes, this incredible season. The trip to Crystal Palace will be no cakewalk either, as Liverpool found to their cost when scrapping for the title, but Leicester remain unfazed, even with the prize increasingly theirs to lose.

Ranieri still talks about the Europa League, the fans sing about staying up — even though the season’s initial target has long been passed — and the likes of Tottenham still peer at that top position, wondering when the crash that was so confidently predicted will come.

Meanwhile, Leicester drive on. One-nil is as good a score as any at this stage in the campaign.

Former Newcastle right back Danny Simpson was involved in a heated exchange with the Magpies' Serbian striker Mitrovic (right)

 Wijnaldum (left) and Mahrez (right), both star players for their respective teams, challenge for the ball during the top-flight clash

With Newcastle facing a fight to avoid relegation to the Championship, Shelvey is unable to hide his dejection during Monday's clash

Former Tottenham winger Andros Townsend was thrown into the mix in the second half but he made little impact for Newcastle 

A Newcastle supporter displays a banner which reads 'SOS Rafa' with the club facing a fight to avoid Barclays Premier League relegation

Benitez was happy to pose for a selfie with a supporter ahead of Newcastle's Premier League clash against league leaders Leicester