Rodgers says players relish talk of winning league again
Goals from Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy – his 12th of the season – deservedly kept Leicester in second place yesterday despite City needing an hour to break down a determined Brighton.
Brendan Rodgers’s side had 57 per cent of possession in the first half, but it felt like more and in the second their pace on the break embarrassed the home defence. Their own rearguard remains the most miserly in the division, with only eight goals conceded.
If there was a blemish on Leicester’s day as they extended their best start to a season, it was that James Maddison was denied a goal on his 23rd birthday by the video assistant referee. He headed in the rebound after Brighton goalkeeper Maty Ryan saved Vardy’s 82nd-minute penalty, but he and a Brighton defender had encroached into the area and a retake was ordered. This time Vardy made no mistake with his 12th goal of the season.
Rodgers laughed when asked about the chances of the Foxes repeating their title success of 2015-16 – but was ruling nothing out. “That’s OK as long as you’re still asking in April,” he said.
“There are only 13 games gone, but we’re not shying away from it. It’s great that supporters are asking whether we can win the most competitive league in the world.”
Brighton were looking for a fourth successive home win for the first time in the top flight but Graham Potter, their head coach, agreed that it had seldom been a possibility. “They are as good as anyone we have played, certainly at home,” he said.
Leicester could have run away with it in the first half. Perez headed against the woodwork after Solly March wrongly decided Harvey Barnes’s cross from the left posed no problems, Vardy stole onto a free kick to the near post by Ben Chilwell to force a fine, fingertip save from Ryan, and Aaron Mooy had to scissor-kick away from the jaws of goal.
Brighton improved after the break, but Leicester are never more dangerous than on the break and after 64 minutes Vardy charged away to set up Perez to score from close range.
They made it 2-0 10 minutes from time with the help of VAR. Webster tripped Leicester substitute Demarai Gray, and Vardy scored from the retake after Maddison’s header was ruled out.
“We could have been ahead in the first half, but at 0-0 we were tested,” Rodgers said. “That’s the Premier League. We scored a great goal and after that we showed real confidence to go and get another.”