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Mark Hughes pictured during today's match. EMPICS Sport

Pressure mounts on Mark Hughes as Stoke slip up again

Meanwhile, Leicester earned a convincing 3-0 victory at home to Huddersfield.

Updated at 18.04

AT THE BET365 Stadium, Stoke’s latest lacklustre display piled pressure on Hughes, whose gamble of fielding a weakened team in Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing at Chelsea proved an unwise move.

Newcastle took a deserved lead in the 73rd minute when Ayoze Perez stabbed past Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland from close-range.

That triggered chants for Hughes’s dismissal from Stoke fans, with a ‘Hughes out’ banner held aloft in the stands.

Stoke have won once in their last six games and sit two points above the relegation zone.

Asked if he feared the sack, the defiant Hughes said: “Who else is going to do it?

“In terms of the knowledge of the group and the progress in my time here, I’m the best person to do it.

“The players are frustrated, but that’s a consequence of the high standards I’ve set here.”

- Silva arrives at last -

Algeria duo Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani inspired Leicester’s 3-0 win over Huddersfield.

Claude Puel’s side took the lead through Mahrez in the 53rd minute, the winger meeting Marc Albrighton’s cross with a well-taken volley for his eighth goal of the season.

With Leicester striker Jamie Vardy sidelined by a groin injury, Islam Slimani who marked only his second league start this season with his first league goal since April — a chipped finish in the 60th minute.

Leicester’s Adrien Silva came on late in the second half for his long-awaited first appearance.

FIFA rejected the 28-year-old’s move from Sporting Lisbon in August when the paperwork arrived 14 seconds too late.

The Portugal midfielder finally completed his move on Monday and was cheered to the rafters when he made his first appearance at the King Power Stadium.

Albrighton’s 90th minute goal capped a good afternoon for Leicester, who ended a four-match winless run, while Huddersfield were beaten for the first time in five games.

Callum Wilson’s second goal in three games earned Bournemouth a 2-2 draw at south coast rivals Brighton.

Anthony Knockaert put Brighton ahead in the fifth minute before Steve Cook’s looping header had the visitors level in the 33rd minute.

Glenn Murray restored Brighton’s lead three minutes into the second half.

But Wilson rescued Bournemouth in the 79th minute with his fifth league goal of the campaign and Eddie Howe’s side are now unbeaten in their last three games.

- © AFP, 2017

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