Newcastle 2-1 Leicester: Bruno Guimaraes scores late winner to sink Foxes

When Bruno Guimaraes arrived in the goalmouth and flung his weary body at a deflected cross in the fifth minute of injury time, he was either going to collapse in a heap or end up buried beneath one. Seconds later, the Brazilian’s shirtless torso disappeared amid a mob of indebted team-mates.

In the Gallowgate End behind the goal into which his diving header had so sweetly nestled, grown men mimicked their new hero and dispensed with their black-and-white jerseys. Sadly, their ale-laden guts were visible. But even the tee-totalers were drunk on Bruno.

That included Eddie Howe – the most reserved of celebrators even by his own admission – the head coach swept onto the pitch by a wave of euphoria crashing down from the stands around him. ‘In my own way, that was quite extravagant,’ he later said.

Bruno Guimaraes scored both of Newcastle’s goals to earn his side all three points on Sunday

Newcastle turned the game around against Leicester – having fallen behind early in the game

But really, the flamboyance of that moment belonged entirely to Bruno. It was almost forgotten that he had also scored his side’s equaliser, so iconic did his winner feel in its own right.

This is why Newcastle paid Lyon an initial £36million for the midfielder in January. The add-ons taking the deal to a club-record £42m will soon be realised on this evidence.

He was meant to signify the future of the club’s Saudi-backed regime. For them, it is a bonus that he is so very much impacting the present. That eventual fee could prove a bargain.

The game itself, for the large part, had carried a somewhat deflating end-of-season feel. This, however, is just the start of a Geordie love affair with Bruno.

‘I want to be a legend here,’ he declared afterwards. The 24-year-old is talking and walking right now.

Saying that, he had looked a likely candidate to be substituted as the game drifted towards a draw that would have been a fair reflection. Both teams had been OK, but no more than that.

Bruno was just about edging man-of-the-match honours, more so for his graft than his craft on this occasion. But his race appeared ran, and there was no shame in that. 

Then, as Joe Willock set off on a gallant gallop down the left flank, Bruno – some 20 yards in arrears – found the will to match the substitute’s stride. His legs carried him into penalty area and his forehead into folklore, connecting with Willock’s delivery after it had looped off the boot of defender Daniel Amartey.

 The Brazilian midfielder has scored three goals since his January move from Lyon

‘Scoring goals wasn’t the area we thought he would enhance the team,’ said Howe. ‘But playing him in the No.8 role, it looks like he can excel in that area.

‘To burst into the box and score the winner in the 95th minute shows how quickly he has picked up the pace and the physicality of the Premier League.’

Was Howe ever tempted to withdraw him?

‘Being honest, no,’ said the manager. ‘I could see he was fatigued. At half-time he had treatment of his back. But I just felt he was very important for us, he was involved in our good moments, I wanted to keep him on the pitch.’

Ademola Lookman opened the scoring for the visitors but they failed to hold onto the lead

Credit, too, to Willock. He received the ball deep in his own half, skipped by a challenge on halfway and drove into the area. It was a smart introduction by Howe, sensing the need for energy in a game that had slowly become drained of it.

The win – a fifth on the spin at St James’ Park – takes his side 12 points clear of the bottom three. They trail Leicester, in ninth, by just three points.

For Brendan Rodgers, the bigger prize remains the Europa Conference. He made eight changes from the team that reached the last four of that competition on Thursday night in Eindhoven.

The Foxes had taken a first-half lead, and Rodgers said: ‘You don’t always get what you deserve in football. But we failed to control the ball late on and, when you do that, you fail to control the game.’

Newcastle’s first goal, just after the half hour, was an example of VAR working on two fronts. Primarily, it reversed a decision that would ordinarily be awarded in favour of a goalkeeper. But the delay also added to the drama.

Eddie Howe celebrates with his coaching staff and players after snatching a late winner

Guimaraes has quickly become a fan favourite since joining the Magpies in January

When a Newcastle corner fell to Bruno, spinning inside the goalmouth, his initial poke became lodged between the legs of Kasper Schmeichel. Not, crucially, his gloves. Bruno had another bite and forced it over the line.

Jarred Gillett, seeing Schmeichel appeal for a foul, duly obliged and disallowed the goal. There are rare species of panda offered less protection than goalkeepers.

A VAR check ensued and, after a two-minute pause that involved Gillett being sent to his pitchside monitor, a goal was rightly awarded.

Was it an unsatisfactory intrusion on the game? Not at all. If anything, the anticipation merely amplified the sound of the eventual celebration. Bruno’s Latino jig in front of the Leazes End played a part, too. The whole episode felt like theatre.

Leicester’s opener, 12 minutes earlier, also had a fair helping of artistic merit, such was the ingenuity of their corner routine. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s delivery could well have been misinterpreted as a near-post mis-hit. It wasn’t, it was a pass. There, Ayoze Perez diverted the merest flick back towards the penalty spot where Ademola Lookman was waiting to finish.

The mastery belonging to that goal was hardly in keeping with the rest of the contest and we barely saw another passage worthy of note. At least, that was, until Bruno’s last-gasp intervention.

Here is Sportsmail’s live blog which provided updates on Newcastle’s clash with Leicester and Burnley visit to West Ham.