Mixed Emotions For Shakespeare After Liverpool Defeat

First Team
23 Sep 2017
2 Minutes
Leicester City boss Craig Shakespeare couldn’t hide his frustration after coming away empty-handed from a thrilling Premier League encounter with Liverpool at King Power Stadium.

- Leicester City fall to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the Premier League
- The Reds went 2-0 up at King Power Stadium through Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho, but Shinji Okazaki pulled one back before half time
- Jordan Henderson extended the lead while Jamie Vardy made it 3-2, but also saw a penalty saved
- Manager Craig Shakespeare was pleased with the intensity but frustrated not to come away with any points

His Foxes were energetic and combative throughout but eventually fell to a 3-2 defeat in a game that could easily have seen them emerge with at least a point, with striker Jamie Vardy seeing a penalty that could have made it 3-3, saved.

Liverpool raced into a 2-0 lead through Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho, but the spirited Foxes pulled a goal back before the break courtesy of the in-form Shinji Okazaki from a yard out.

City pushed for the equaliser but Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson finished off a counter attack before Vardy headed in to put City back in it again. Minutes later, Simon Mignolet fouled him in the box but the City no.9 saw the spot kick saved as the Reds held on for the win.

Speaking afterwards, Shakespeare acknowledge the positives from his players but was frustrated not to come away with any points.

“Mixed emotions is right,” said Shakespeare. “We’ve got no points. I’ve been told by many people since the final whistle that we contributed to a great game but as a manager and coach it doesn’t mean anything because my players are in there (the dressing room) disappointed not to come away with anything.

“You have to realise that you’re playing against some quality opposition. The aim at the start was to play with the high intensity. We all know if football that games will ebb and flow.

“The momentum changes and it was vitally important that we got a goal back just before half time. I think getting the players in at half time, it was about having a big 15 minutes. We needed to test them defensively and ask questions. We needed to put the ball in the box and make their defenders turn to face their own goal.

“I think we did that but ultimately because we were pushing for that second goal, it cost us and we were too open. From their third goal it was always going to be hard to come back, but try we did and we could have got a point in the end.”