Puel: Solidity, Hard Work And Goals

- Leicester City beat Watford 2-0 in the Premier League at King Power Stadium
- Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez scored in either half to give City all three points
- The Foxes move up to seventh in the table on goal difference after the win
- Manager Claude Puel was pleased with the hard work his team put in against a tough opponent

Goals from Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez gave the Foxes all three points and moved them up to seventh place in the table in the process, ahead of Burnley on goal difference after 24 games.

Vardy opened the scoring in the first half from the penalty spot after being brought down inside the area by former Fox Molla Wagué – finishing emphatically into the bottom right corner from 12 yards

The game opened up after the break but it wasn’t until stoppage time that Puel’s men were able to add a second goal, coming after a fine run and finish from Mahrez on his left foot – shooting across the ‘keeper and into the bottom corner.

Speaking afterwards, Puel said: “I am happy for the squad. I said before the game it would be a difficult to play against this team, more difficult than against Chelsea. They have another style and we lost away against them [in December].

“We know this team very well. I was not surprised by them because they are a strong team who battle well. It is always difficult for us. It was a good challenge for us against them. We have a good feeling after this game because it was important to show our capacity to play. It was a good result at Chelsea and again against Watford after different styles of play. We know every game is tough but this is a good reward and we deserved this result.

“The most important thing was to win and we have kept another clean sheet. It shows the solidity of us, the hard work on the pitch of all the team. Of course we could have scored more goals in the second half but with just one goal it was not enough because they could score form a long ball or set piece. It was important to score a second goal and it came at the end form Riyad [Mahrez]. It was a fantastic for everyone.”

The manager was keen to keep focus only on the next game despite the Foxes rise to seventh and a run of results which has seen the team keep five consecutive clean sheets in all competitions.

He added: “I think our mission is to just continue to work hard and to improve. The Premier League is so difficult. The next game we play away at Everton and it is a good team. It will be tough there. We cannot look [too far] forward. It is important to stay focused and concentrate on our play.

“We have to keep this concentration on the pitch and work hard in training. The position in the table at the moment is not important. It is about where we finish at the end of the season. We have to play a lot of games, difficult games every time and we will see in the future.”