Ranieri: A Bonus Game, But We Must Learn

- Leicester City beaten 5-2 by Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League
- Claudio Ranieri pleased with his side’s fighting spirit
- Foxes boss says such games against big four can be seen as bonus matches
- Leicester urged to learn from mistakes before Saturday’s trip to Norwich
Claudio Ranieri was content to look at Arsenal as something of a bonus fixture on Saturday, though the Italian emphasised that his Leicester City side must learn from their 5-2 defeat.
With 12 points already on the board from their opening six games, the Foxes had little to lose from their clash with the Gunners, which made for an entertaining, swashbuckling encounter at King Power Stadium.
City opened the scoring through the in-form Jamie Vardy, but saw their adventurous approach punished on the counter as Theo Walcott’s equaliser and an Alexis Sanchez hat trick put the London side in charge.
Vardy pulled one back late on, but substitute Olivier Giroud made absolutely certain of the points with a late fifth for the visitors.
Ranieri refused to criticise his side for an expansive approach to the game against a side notoriously strong on the break, but will quickly be drawing lessons from the defeat before next week’s trip to Norwich City.
“We wanted to remain unbeaten, but I think when you play against Arsenal, Chelsea, [Manchester] United and [Manchester] City – these are extra teams, but we have to learn something,” he said.
“Now for us it is important how we react in the next match.
“I was worried about Arsenal on the counter attack because they have quality, pace – everything. In the second half we tried to close the space in the middle with another midfielder and wait for the final 20 minutes to change the match, but their third goal was important.”
City’s high-octane pressing tactics have been richly rewarded this season – particularly at King Power Stadium, where visiting sides have been hustled out of possession in dangerous parts of the pitch.
But that proved a difficult strategy to deploy against a team of Arsenal’s class.
“It’s difficult to press a team that plays like this. When you press them on the right, they move the ball quickly and then you have to rearrange the shape to press on the other side," Claudio said.
“When you get there, they change again – the quality of the Arsenal players is very, very high.
“We tried to do our best, created some good chances. Now it’s important how we react.
“Now we are down, we lost the match, but our spirit should be very high."