SAW POINT FOR FOXES
Defeat in Poland leaves Leicester bottom
BY
BRENDAN RODGERS saw his Leicester side slip to the bottom of Group C with a lukewarm display in the Polish capital.
A 31st-minute winner from Azerbaijan striker Mahir Emreli was enough to put Legia Warsaw top of the table and leave the Foxes with just one point from two games.
Boss Rodgers said: “We are disappointed. But we had chances and could have got something from the game.
“There’s work to do, but the group is still very open. Our aim is to qualify and we still have enough time and opportunities to do that.”
Ayoze Perez was the main culprit squandering two good chances, but it was not until Rodgers brought on big guns James Maddison and Harvey Barnes that they livened up.
Rodgers added: “We’re just not starting strongly enough. We’ve got to be more aggressive.”
He saw his side came unstuck in front of a noisy, bouncing home crowd. They booed loudly when Leicester’s players took the knee just before kick-off and proceeded to make their presence felt all night.
The place erupted when Emreli cashed in from just inside the box, shrugging Daniel Amartey off far too easily before firing a left-foot shot across Kasper Schmeichel.
The keeper was rooted to his line as Emreli’s drive headed towards the bottom corner, struck the inside of his left-hand post and hit the net.
And the Foxes were left counting the cost of two missed chances which fell to Perez. He should have cashed in after just eight minutes when keeper Cezary Miszta missed a Timothy Castagne corner only to catch Perez unawares.
And it was Perez again who should have done better a few minutes after Legia’s goal when he found himself in space 14 yards out, but screwed wide.
Something needed to be done and while the 67th-minute introduction of subs Barnes and Maddison did just that, it was not enough for the Foxes.
Jannik Vestergaard sent a close-range header straight at the keeper, but Legia really should have wrapped it up before the end with Lirim Kastrati hitting a post and Tomas Pekhart blazing a great chance over.