Rodgers: A Brilliant Performance
- The Foxes defeated Manchester United in a thrilling Premier League encounter on Saturday
- Youri Tielemans, Çağlar Söyüncü, Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka did the damage for Leicester City
- Manager Brendan Rodgers spoke to LCFC TV following full-time on Filbert Way
- He was pleased to see a return to a much more attacking and front-foot approach from his team
Following draws in their previous two Premier League fixtures, Saturday afternoon’s sensational performance was the perfect way to respond after the international break, according to Rodgers.
He was particularly impressed to see his side press the opposition with an increased intensity, forcing mistakes - and also with the quality of the four goals scored against the Red Devils.
“A brilliant performance, a great win,” Rodgers told LCFC TV in his post-match interview. “I’m pleased with the performance in particular because I got the things out of the performance that I wanted.
“I spoke during their week about how passive we’d been, but that was much more like our game, with much more intensity in the game. When we play to that level, then you see the attacking verve in the team and it’s much more dynamic.
“We scored four fantastic goals, created more opportunities and had to show our resilience in the game against a really, really top-class side. We proved a point to ourselves today and now we need to keep pushing forward.”
Mason Greenwood’s opener for the visitors broke the deadlock on Filbert Way, but Youri Tielemans’ equally impressive finish drew Leicester level before the break.
But then it was United’s turn to hit back, with Marcus Rashford making it 2-2 after Çaglar Söyüncü had moved the Foxes ahead for the first time in the game.
The Northern Irishman was delighted with the way his team responded to that late setback, scoring almost immediately courtesy of Jamie Vardy to edge back into the lead during a topsy-turvy affair.
“The first goal, Mason hits it, it’s an unbelievable strike,” Rodgers reflected. “But we responded from that. “He’s (Youri Tielemans) just had a little look, if you watch him, to just spin it into the top corner.
"Up to that point we had played some good football, we got into some good areas and then obviously they get the equaliser.
“It just shows, we spoke in pre-season about the spirit of the team and it’s going to happen sometimes, teams are going to come back against you, but it can’t break your spirit and it didn’t break ours. We went straight up the other end, an outstanding finish by Jamie [Vardy] and then that got our momentum again.
City Win Filbert Way Classic
Watch all six goals from Leicester City's 4-2 victory over Manchester United at King Power Stadium last season.
“I thought Vards' goal was outstanding. It’s such a difficult technique to get it there. He had to really cut across it with power and it was a wonderful finish.”
Patson Daka came off the bench to score his first Leicester goal in added time and wrap up the three points in the process. Rodgers was full of praise for the Zambia forward and how he helped to turn the game back in City’s favour.
The 48-year-old added: “James [Maddison] and Kels (Kelechi Iheanacho) put everything into the game, so we needed to keep the freshness in the team, we needed to keep them pushing.
“And obviously bringing Patson [Daka] on, he wants to run in behind, he’s a natural goalscorer. For him, he had a little chance inside the box, the 'keeper makes a save and then he’s there, sniffing around the goal for the finish. So, I'm very pleased for him.”