Rodgers: The Players Gave Everything
- Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City showed fight and aggression against Manchester City on Saturday
- The Foxes were edged 1-0 following a strike from Gabriel Jesus
- Jamie Vardy hit the post, while City had two penalty shouts turned down
The Foxes, who had two penalty shouts turned down following a handball by Kevin De Bruyne and a foul on Kelechi Iheanacho, were edged following Gabriel Jesus’ strike 10 minutes from time.
However, Rodgers underlined City’s efforts against the reigning Premier League champions, and felt his side were unfortunate not to be awarded a spot-kick.
“Well [there’s] disappointment naturally because I thought we deserved something from the game,” Rodgers told LCFC TV at the full-time whistle. “Everything I asked the players to do, they were amazing in terms of defensively, pressing when they could, and then, when they had to defend.
“I can’t believe we didn’t get a penalty. It is probably the reason why VAR was brought in. Kevin De Bruyne has his hands up, he’s blocking his face, all the other players are jumping with their hands down and it hits his arm. If you see the flight of the ball, it’s heading towards the goal. For me, it was a clear penalty.
“I thought, towards the end of the game, because you’ve been chasing the ball for longer than we normally are, just that little bit of tiredness set in. Then, [Riyad] Mahrez was able to get through so easy and it leads to them getting the winning goal.
“The players gave everything in the game playing against a top, top team and everything I said about the fight, the pressing, the aggression, that was much more like us.”
Rodgers was thrilled to welcome back midfielder Matty James, who made his first Premier League appearance in nearly two years after coming off the bench late on.
“He’s worked so hard,” added Rodgers. “We were obviously really down on our midfield players, but he’s worked ever so hard.
“It’s been a long, long road for him and now he’s training for a long period fitness-wise and he’s had some games.
“Dennis [Praet] was superb. He was tiring a bit towards the end, so we wanted to put some fresh legs on for that last period.
“Of course, they then scored. I always feel Matty with his football ability can maybe make a pass for us, but it was great for him to get on the field.”