Following today’s clash between Leicester City and Crystal Palace, here are the instant reactions from both managers.
Leicester City hosted Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium on Saturday December 16, with the visitors taking a three nil victory.
Christian Benteke broke his drought in front of goal to open the scoring and Wilfried Zaha doubled their advantage just ahead of the half time break. Bakary Sako added a third four minutes into stoppage time at the end of the game.
Leicester did rally in the second period but any outside hopes of a fightback were ended when Wilfred Ndidi was sent off for a second yellow card.
Teams:
Leicester:
Schmeichel, Simpson, Morgan, Maguire, Chilwell, Ndidi, Iborra (Okazaki 77), Mahrez, Gray, Albrighton (King 77), Vardy (Ulloa 85).
Substitutes:
Iheanacho, Hamer, Dragovic, Fuchs.
Crystal Palace:
Speroni, Kelly, Tomkins, Dann, Schlupp, Townsend, Cabaye (Riedewald 85), McArthur, Loftus-Cheek, Benteke (Sako 88), Zaha.
Substitutes:
van Aanholt, Hennessey, Lee Chung-yong, Souare, Wan-Bissaka.
Speaking to the BBC’s cameras a short time after match day referee Martin Atkinson blew the final whistle, Leicester City manager Claude Puel explained.
‘It was not a good day for us. We did not start well, we played without intensity. We played a good team with confidence – Palace deserved this win, they played very well. We needed to be more aggressive. We needed more good play, more intensity and quality. We tried to react in the second half. Ndidi was sent off and after we tried but it was too difficult for us to come back in this condition and we conceded a third goal, which was a little harsh for us. For us, it is a good lesson for the future. Now it is time to look forward.’
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson in his comparative interview explained.
‘Benteke was very strong. The day after (penalty miss) he came in and held his hand up, he spoke to the players and myself and made the point that he would make it up to team, and that is what he has done. We did feel a bit marooned at the bottom of the table, there was a time when we were looking up at everyone above us and the gap was massive. But since then we have started playing the way we have over the past few games, and if we can produce performances like this all the way until May, at least we will have given ourselves a chance. I can’t say I’m surprised by the win – we’ve had good results away from home where a victory would not have been totally out of order. It’s good to get it today because the longer that run goes on the more you keep getting reminded of it.’
