Puel Delighted By City's 'Fantastic Togetherness'
- Manager Claude Puel reflects on Leicester City's 1-0 victory over Chelsea on Saturday
- Jamie Vardy struck in the 51st minute to secure all three points for the Foxes at Stamford Bridge
- Puel was delighted with the manner in which his Foxes players all contributed to the cause
- The City manager also highlighted how quickly things can change in the Premier League table
The Foxes defended stoically in west London and, when an opportunity came Jamie Vardy’s way in the 51st minute, the 31-year-old finished emphatically to seal all three points.
Speaking to the media afterwards, Puel was delighted as he analysed a performance which enabled City to inflict a first home league defeat on Maurizio Sarri's men this season.
“We played this game with confidence and the right mentality away at Chelsea, a good team with great players,” the Frenchman said at full-time.
“In this game, we played with a fantastic togetherness. Perhaps in the first half, we were disappointed because we could have used the ball with more quality.
“We wasted some good opportunities in the first half but our togetherness and our defensive aspect was fantastic. We scored a goal with a fantastic move and I was happy for Jamie.
“It was a clinical goal and fantastic service from Maddy [James Maddison] also. We continued to defend like a team with 11 players with the mentality to keep this result.”
That togetherness - which saw all players put their bodies on the line to defend in the latter moments - was the most pleasing factor for Puel to reflect on in his post-match assessment.
“It’s a fantastic reward for the team because we managed this game very well,” Puel added. “We were a little lucky in the end when they hit the post, but I am happy for the players.
“All the time, it’s important to analyse the games and not just look at the results or our ranking in the table.
“Sometimes we’ve conceded goals early in the games and we’ve had to manage things like suspensions or injuries, but we have always kept our mentality.
“It’s important to analyse afterwards and I am happy with their mentality. For example, against Crystal Palace, if we won, we would be seventh in the table, but we lost and we were 12th.
“In this game, we were in situations to defend together with a good balance and a great aggressiveness to help us continue with better quality with the ball and win the game.”