Puel: We Gave Our Best

- Leicester City exit the Carabao Cup with a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat against Manchester City
- Jamie Vardy scored a stoppage time penalty to cancel out Bernardo Silva’s opener as the scores ended 1-1 after 90 minutes
- In the shootout Jamie Vardy hit the post and Riyad Mahrez saw an effort saved by Claudio Bravo
- Claude Puel praised the efforts of his side as he felt they deserved to progress at King Power Stadium

The Foxes had gone behind to a Bernardo Silva goal after a swift counter from the runaway Premier League leaders, but a penalty from Jamie Vardy in second half stoppage time made it 1-1 and ensured a period of extra-time.

City, who made seven changes to the starting XI, improved as the game went on but couldn’t find the winning goal in those 30 minutes, and were ultimately beaten 4-3 in the shootout – Vardy and Riyad Mahrez the men denied from the spot.

Afterwards, Puel was frustrated to bow out of a competition in which he led former club Southampton to the final of last term, but was pleased with the response from his team to the weekend’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace.

“For me, it was a fantastic game,” Puel said at full time. “It was a fantastic scenario, all the game, until the end. Penalties are penalties. It was not for us.

“It’s a disappointment. But I have no regrets about our players, our game. All the players gave their best. It was competitive game between two good teams. It was encouraging for the future. We have to keep this high level of performance. It was a good response after our last game on Saturday.

“I know about my players and the quality they can make on the pitch and we deserved another goal to win. We had more chances than the opponent to win the game.”

Next up for the Foxes is a home clash with Manchester United on Saturday afternoon and Puel saw plenty of good points in the performance against Manchester City to give him optimism going into that fixture.

He added: “I want to speak about our game because it was a fantastic game and there was good quality and we deserved a different result at the end. It’s a disappointment for the whole squad. We tried to win this game, with good quality, and a positive outlook. This is a good feeling for the future.”