Man City Point Delights Ranieri

- The Foxes battle to a 0-0 draw with Manchester City that saw both sides have chances to win the game 

- Ranieri says he brought on an extra striker in the second half in an effort to secure all three points 

- The manager praises the way his players closed the space and pressed high 

Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri was delighted with another Barclays Premier League point against Manchester City but admits his side were going all out for the victory. 

Inside a noise-filled King Power Stadium, the Foxes battled to a 0-0 draw against Manuel Pellegrini’s title chasers to earn a point that ensured they ended 2015 level on points with Arsenal at the top of the table. 

An inspired defensive display from a City back line that looks as tough to breach as any in the league formed the basis of the performance, while the relentless pressing helped the Foxes carve out enough openings to win the match outright. 

Indeed with the scores tied at 0-0, Ranieri introduced another striker to the mix in an effort to secure all three points, and while that didn’t materialise, Ranieri was delighted with what he saw from his team in response to last week’s 1-0 loss at Liverpool. 

“I’m very pleased but I’m also very pleased with a clean sheet against these great champions,” Ranieri told Foxes Player HD. “I think we showed a very good performance and after the Liverpool defeat we’ve played so well. 

“We played calm, fast and pressed high when it was possible. When it wasn’t possible we closed very well the space with good shape and everybody played very good football. 

“We closed all the space. We made a little mistake [in the last game at Liverpool] and [Christian] Benteke scored a goal but tonight we closed very well when they passed the ball back in their defensive line.” 

Ranieri made two changes to his side for the match, bringing in Gökhan Inler and Danny Drinkwater to the midfield in an effort to counteract Manchester City’s considerable threat through the centre of the park. 

He added: “I wanted to close very well the space between the lines and between the defensive and midfield lines because they play with a lot of midfielders – [David] Silva and [Kevin] De Bruyne – a lot of players around this area. 

“I wanted to close this area and help my central defenders. Then I saw in the second half we can do something better. Win or lose for me it was the same and the team responded very well. I wanted to put on another striker to try to win.”