Following today’s clash between Leicester City and Watford, here are the instant reactions from both managers.
Leicester City hosted Watford at the King Power Stadium on Saturday January 20, with the hosts taking a two nil victory.
A Jamie Vardy penalty opened the scoring in the 39th minute of the game before Riyad Mahrez added a second in stoppage time.
Leicester move into seventh place in the Premier League table but Watford now having only one win in their last eleven matches.
Teams:
Leicester:
Schmeichel, Amartey, Dragovic, Maguire, Chilwell, Mahrez, Ndidi, James, Albrighton, Okazaki (Gray 65), Vardy (Adrien Silva 89).
Substitutes:
Iheanacho, Hamer, Fuchs, Benalouane, Diabate.
Watford:
Karnezis, Janmaat (Okaka 81), Wague (Prodl 61), Kabasele, Zeegelaar, Watson, Doucoure, Carrillo, Pereyra (Gray 60), Richarlison, Deeney.
Substitutes:
Mariappa, Sinclair, Capoue, Bachmann.
Speaking to the BBC’s cameras a short time after match day referee Lee Probert blew the final whistle, Leicester City manager Claude Puel explained.
‘The result was a fantastic reward for the squad because today was a tough game. Watford are a strong team, they battle well and they play good football. In the first half we needed a bit more quality to find the space behind them. In the second half, we did this much better without scoring a second goal and that made it difficult for us. What was pleasing was that we didn’t give away many chances today – I think we controlled the game and it’s a good feeling for us to win. For the moment, it’s important for us to keep playing well on this run. If it’s possible to improve the squad, of course we will look to do that, but the players have a fantastic spirit and there is a good balance about them.’
With ongoing speculation about Mahrez.
‘Mahrez is enjoying playing with his team-mates and he shows this every time he plays.’
Watford head coach Marco Silva in his comparative interview explained.
‘Today was a tough game for both teams. We didn’t deserve to be losing at half-time. They started the second half better but after our changes we created some problems for them. We had two clear chances to make it 1-1, which would have been a fair result but then obviously the second goal in the last minutes ended it. It wasn’t a great game to watch. Our boys worked really hard – we knew it was a difficult place to come but the simple difference today was that they scored their chances and we didn’t.’
He added.
‘We want to win and get more points. The attitude and the commitment that I’ve seen these last two games is what we need. The Premier League is so difficult – we just need to turn the hard work into points and the confidence will come. I have confidence in all of our players.’
