Leicester City earn respect for thrilling show against Newcastle

The key word around the Walkers Stadium before kick-off was "respect" but, after 10-man Leicester City's outstanding performance in adversity, the word on lips of all City fans was "pride".

The visit of Championship leaders Newcastle United, which was televised live to millions of viewers, was picked by the FA to highlight its Respect campaign, designed to improve behaviour on and off the pitch.

City fans held up coloured bags before the game to spell out the buzzword but, by half-time, the FA may have wished it had not picked this particular fixture.

The City fans vented their frustration towards the officials, and referee Andre Marriner in particular, after a volatile first half that saw City midfielder Richie Wellens sent off for the 11th time in his career on the half-hour mark.

The Blue Army may have felt Wellens' two bookings were unjust, although television replays showed that his first booking for a late tackle on Alan Smith was a poor challenge.

However, his second yellow card, for a slight tug on Wayne Routledge, while technically correct, was harsh.

After being booked, Wellens made an error of judgement even reaching for Routledge's shirt, with plenty of defensive cover ahead of the Newcastle winger's path to goal. But worse challenges in the game went unpunished.

Marriner could have given Wellens a strong final warning. Instead, he brandished the red card and a game that was bubbling up nicely between two fully-committed and talented sides could have been ruined.

The FA is right, there should be respect for officials and players, but there should also be respect shown to the paying public whose money drives the game and who do not want to see players dismissed so needlessly.

City also had two very strong shouts for penalties waved away.

It was the third game running that City have had strong cases for penalties, but their appeals have fallen on deaf ears each time.

Their first came when Andrew Carroll, in the Newcastle wall, blocked Paul Gallagher's free kick with his arm just after half-time.

But the second, when Andy King's header from a Martyn Waghorn corner deflected off the turf and struck Nicky Butt's arm, would have been harsh.

There was also a high tackle by Ryan Taylor on Waghorn that was not even given as a free-kick and City could have been down to nine men when Bruno Berner lunged in on Routledge while already on a booking.

This time Marriner did dispense the final warning and not a card.

Although it was Respect day, to focus on the referee's game would detract from what was a fantastically-spirited performance from Nigel Pearson's side. They were simply terrific.

City were certainly the better side when the numbers were even, and, even after Wellens trudged down the tunnel, they continued to create the better chances and show more hunger than their illustrious visitors.

City started with noble intentions, with a three-man attack of Waghorn, Matty Fryatt and Paul Gallagher and, even after Wellens departed, they never changed their ambition.

Waghorn and Fryatt took the game to the Geordies and epitomised this City performance.

They were both eventually replaced, but only because they had worked so hard they needed to be saved from themselves.

Waghorn, in particular, was excellent and his turn and visionary pass to pick out Matt Oakley's run in the 23rd minute set up City's first real opportunity.

The City skipper, who produced one of his best performances of the season, pulled the ball back for Fryatt, who forced a good save out of United keeper Steve Harper.

Oakley then almost set up Fryatt, but Harper raced out of the box to snuff out the danger. Then, after Wellens was sent off, Fryatt embarked on a fantastic solo run from inside his own half, beating several challenges and wriggling into the box only for his goal-bound shot to strike Patrick Van Aanholt on the backside.

It would have been a goal that City fans would have talked about for decades.

The Blue Army were loving what they were saw from their side, if not from the referee.

Chris Weale produced a great save to push away an Aanholt strike but, despite the discrepancy in numbers, the first half belonged to City.

It was more of the same at the start of the second half and Gallagher's free-kick looked destined for the top corner until Carroll's single-handed intervention.

As the half wore on, inevitably City started to run out of steam, but the defence of Berner, Wayne Brown, Jack Hobbs and Michael Morrison was in outstanding form.

Lee Nolan and Routledge had decent opportunities but failed to take them, and substitute Nile Ranger had the ball in the net but the linesman's flag cut short the visitors' celebrations.

City still looked dangerous on the break and Waghorn and Gallagher both had decent chances to pinch what would have been a worthy victory.

In the end, City gained just a point but the final whistle was greeted like a victory by the City supporters, who showed their appreciation of their team's efforts.

City need to use this performance now and build on it because if they continue to show this endeavour and spirit they will get their rewards – and gain plenty of respect.