Shakespeare: Hard Earned Point

- Leicester City held to a 0-0 Premier League draw by AFC Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium
- Jermain Defoe struck the bar for the hosts while Shinji Okazaki went closest for the Foxes
- City stay 17th in the table with five points from seven games
- Manager Craig Shakespeare felt his team should be happy with a point after a strong defensive display

The Foxes were up against it from the early stages against the Cherries, who saw Jermain Defoe strike the crossbar inside the opening few minutes in a first half that belonged to the home side.

City improved after the break and could have snatched all three points when Jamie Vardy’s knockdown found Shinji Okazaki, only for the Japan international to fire wide from close range.

Bournemouth still created chances as the game opened up, forcing several fine saves from Kasper Schmeichel as the manager was left to reflect on a 0-0 draw that gave his side a welcome Premier League point.

Speaking after the final whistle, Shakespeare reflected: “It was a hard earned point. I thought Bournemouth started really well and we struggled to get into the pace of the game. The momentum was with Bournemouth and we had to show a lot of resilience in terms of defending in numbers.

“We couldn’t quite get our usual passing game going and also offensively we’d have liked to cause Bournemouth a lot more problems. On reflection we have to be happy with a point. Bournemouth will probably be disappointed but we’ve all been involved in football long enough to know that games are like that. We even had a great chance with Shinji Okazaki to snatch all three points.

“Bournemouth played well but we showed a lot of resilience and got a clean sheet. We’ve now taken five points from Brighton, Huddersfield and now Bournemouth.

“We’ve had a real tough start to the season in terms of the top teams that we’ve played and now we’ve got a chance to regroup and try to bring some momentum to our season.”