Brendan Rodgers thinks Leicester’s comeback against Manchester United showed the best example of their mentality – especially thanks to their counter pressing.
Leicester ensured they remained in second place, above their opponents, by claiming a 2-2 draw.
They had to come from behind twice to claim that point, with Harvey Barnes cancelling out Marcus Rashford’s opener before they responded to Bruno Fernandes’ strike with an Axel Tuanzebe own goal late on.
The result made Leicester the first home team to take points off Man Utd in the Premier League this season.
Rodgers knew his side had to pull a performance out of the top drawer to claim a result. Ultimately, he was very impressed with what he saw.
He told BT Sport: “I thought it was a good game – two attacking teams and I thought we had lots of really good play.
“Our defending and counter pressing was very good; you have to do that against teams like Man Utd, they break so fast. In the first half that element of our game was good.
“Second half we had to defend a bit more but were still compact and tight and then had good moments when we were playing through and maybe lacked the final pass.
“We go 2-1 behind and we’ve always had enthusiasm and confidence, but these games you go behind against a team that’s been playing so well, it really showed the mentality of the players and we deserved a point at least out the game.”
Rodgers praises Vardy’s intelligence
The second equaliser came courtesy of a Jamie Vardy effort, which Tuanzebe turned into his own net.
The striker had not seen much of the ball in the game, but was alert when his side needed him. Rodgers thinks it proves his footballing intelligence.
“That’s Jamie Vardy’s game, that’s why he’s one of the best – his concentration level, he’ll always be in and around the box. He has a football brain and knows where it’s going to drop and then he’s there to finish it.
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“Marcus Rashford had a chance early on and I thought over the first half we were the better team. Bit of luck went against us and Vardy does what he does.
“He’s a top class finisher. I thought it was the least we deserved.
“Back in tomorrow, recover, then see where we’re at. We need to look at freshness, lots of players have played lots of games so we’ll go back in tomorrow and see where we’re at.”
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Samuel Bannister
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