Rodgers focussed on Leicester as Foxes seal dramatic victory
LEICESTER boss Brendan Rodgers has ruled himself out of the running to be Arsenal’s next manager.
The 46-year-old has been linked with the job after Unai Emery was sacked by the Gunners on Friday but insisted he was staying after the Foxes’ last-gasp 2-1 win over Everton.
Kelechi Iheanacho’s stoppagetime strike – given by VAR – broke the Toffees’ hearts to leave them two points above the relegation zone.
Jamie Vardy cancelled out Richarlison’s first-half opener to leave Everton boss Marco Silva on the brink.
Rodgers has guided Leicester to second place in the Premier League after six straight wins and said he was staying.
“Yeah, very much so,” he told BBC Radio 5Live.
He continued: “It doesn’t annoy me. I don’t think so much about it. It’s not in my control.
“I came here to help the project and see if we could bring it forward. I’m at a great club. I absolutely love it here.
“It seems now you’re talking about a manager losing their job all the time and looking to be replaced.
“Names will get thrown right, left and centre. For the Arsenal job there are probably about 10 names. Me, I’m just concentrating on Leicester.”
Gutsy Everton took a first-half lead through Richarlison’s 23rd-minute header.
The Foxes initially struggled to recover until they levelled with 22 minutes left to play.
Iheanacho’s cross found Vardy at the far post and he tapped in his 13th goal of the season.
Leicester rediscovered their momentum and Iheanacho struck the winner in injury time when the former Manchester City forward curled into the bottom corner and, despite the linesman flagging for offside, VAR replays gave the goal.
It left Everton 17th and boss Silva insisted his future was out of his hands.
He said: “I’m not the right person to ask about that. I know what I’m doing. I know what my job is. Tomorrow will be another day for me to prepare another training session.”
The manager was happy with the commitment of his players, though, and believes they showed he has their backing ahead of Wednesday’s derby at Liverpool.
Silva said: “I never had doubts about that. I said after the Norwich game you have to show it with actions and they showed that.
“It [Liverpool] is a tough match but also a special match. You never know what can happen in a derby.”
MANCHESTER UNITED squandered the chance to move into Champions League contention after being held to a 2-2 home draw by Aston Villa.
For a substantial period in the first half the visitors, who had lost 16 of their last 17 matches against established top-six opponents, controlled proceedings with a game plan centred around the influential Jack Grealish.
Villa’s captain scored the opener and presented all manner of problems before Marcus Rashford forced an own goal from goalkeeper Tom Heaton minutes before the interval.
When Victor Lindelof put United ahead midway through the second half, that should have been the signal for them to see out the game.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side conceded an equaliser, with Tyrone Mings volleying home just four minutes later.