- Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri praises the quality and improvement of Saturday’s goalscorers
- Ahmed Musa, Shinji Okazaki and Christian Fuchs all find the net during a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace
- The victory extends City’s unbeaten league run at King Power Stadium to 20 games
- The strikes for Musa and Fuchs were their first for Leicester City
After watching his Leicester City side score three goals of outstanding quality to extend their unbeaten home league run to 20 games, Claudio Ranieri was full of praise.
Ahmed Musa and Christian Fuchs scored their first goals for the Club either side of a Shinji Okazaki strike to hand the Foxes all three points in a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at King Power Stadium.
The boss rotated his side going into the match, with Musa and Okazaki coming in to start ahead of Marc Albrighton and Jamie Vardy, and the manager was thrilled to see both changes make an impact on a brilliant day for the team.
Musa’s opener from just outside the box was a thunderous right-foot strike just before half time, while Okazaki displayed the kind of timing and anticipation fans have come to expect with an instinctive finish to make it 2-0. Fuchs, who signed a three-year contract on Thursday, then rounded off the scoring with the goal of the day when he made a perfect connection with a half volley from 25 yards that arrowed into the corner.
Afterwards, a delighted Ranieri joked: “Christian, I am very angry with him because he has this quality. Only today he scores a goal? He has just signed three years of a contract and maybe now he wants another three years of a contract to score another goal!
“He is a very good player. If you remember at the beginning he didn’t play because also he had to understand the Premier League. He stayed at training session until he did what I wanted him to do. He has to stay very careful because behind him is Ben Chilwell who is pushing very well. Sooner or later he will have a rest.”
On Okazaki, who was City’s Man-of-the-Match after a wonderful display, Ranieri added: “Shinji, when I said after the journey [back from the international break] it is not Shinji, it is his brother, I was right because I know Shinji very well. But now in the training session he was the true Shinji. I said he had played very well and scored also a great goal. I love Shinji for the hard work he puts in for the team.”
When discussing Musa’s contribution, Ranieri was equally pleased, especially having seen the winger open his account against the Eagles in such impressive style.
“He played as I wanted him to do,” said Ranieri. “Maybe now he understands better the Premier League. I understand because if he doesn’t play it is difficult to understand the Premier League but I watch during training and it is a different Musa from the beginning.
“Now he is a fighter. When he loses the ball he doesn’t stop. He continues fast and thinks very quickly and that is why today he started the match.”
- Ahmed Musa, Shinji Okazaki and Christian Fuchs all find the net during a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace
- The victory extends City’s unbeaten league run at King Power Stadium to 20 games
- The strikes for Musa and Fuchs were their first for Leicester City
After watching his Leicester City side score three goals of outstanding quality to extend their unbeaten home league run to 20 games, Claudio Ranieri was full of praise.
Ahmed Musa and Christian Fuchs scored their first goals for the Club either side of a Shinji Okazaki strike to hand the Foxes all three points in a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at King Power Stadium.
The boss rotated his side going into the match, with Musa and Okazaki coming in to start ahead of Marc Albrighton and Jamie Vardy, and the manager was thrilled to see both changes make an impact on a brilliant day for the team.
Musa’s opener from just outside the box was a thunderous right-foot strike just before half time, while Okazaki displayed the kind of timing and anticipation fans have come to expect with an instinctive finish to make it 2-0. Fuchs, who signed a three-year contract on Thursday, then rounded off the scoring with the goal of the day when he made a perfect connection with a half volley from 25 yards that arrowed into the corner.
Afterwards, a delighted Ranieri joked: “Christian, I am very angry with him because he has this quality. Only today he scores a goal? He has just signed three years of a contract and maybe now he wants another three years of a contract to score another goal!
“He is a very good player. If you remember at the beginning he didn’t play because also he had to understand the Premier League. He stayed at training session until he did what I wanted him to do. He has to stay very careful because behind him is Ben Chilwell who is pushing very well. Sooner or later he will have a rest.”
On Okazaki, who was City’s Man-of-the-Match after a wonderful display, Ranieri added: “Shinji, when I said after the journey [back from the international break] it is not Shinji, it is his brother, I was right because I know Shinji very well. But now in the training session he was the true Shinji. I said he had played very well and scored also a great goal. I love Shinji for the hard work he puts in for the team.”
When discussing Musa’s contribution, Ranieri was equally pleased, especially having seen the winger open his account against the Eagles in such impressive style.
“He played as I wanted him to do,” said Ranieri. “Maybe now he understands better the Premier League. I understand because if he doesn’t play it is difficult to understand the Premier League but I watch during training and it is a different Musa from the beginning.
“Now he is a fighter. When he loses the ball he doesn’t stop. He continues fast and thinks very quickly and that is why today he started the match.”