Maddison: Deserved Winners
- James Maddison says Leicester City had to grind out their win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday
- City recorded their ninth Premier League win of 2019/20
- Ayoze Pérez and Jamie Vardy were on target on the south coast
Brendan Rodgers’ outfit made it five wins on the spin in the Premier League to retain their spot in second position, courtesy of second-half strikes from Ayoze Pérez and James Vardy.
Attacking midfielder Maddison, who has scored four goals and made two assists in 12 top-flight appearances this season, felt the Foxes did well to absorb Brighton’s forward threat before going on to net twice after the interval.
“It’s the best birthday present I could ask for,” Maddison told LCFC TV. “Away from home, it’s always tough to get three points at any place in this division, and I think we came away as deserved winners.
“We had to grind through a little stage at the start of the second half and the end of the first half, but I think we came out as deserved winners.”
Goals: Brighton 0 Leicester City 2
Both goals from the 2-0 victory over Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Saturday 23 November, 2019.
Maddison thought he had a goal of his own on his 23rd birthday, but after Vardy had his first goal saved by Mat Ryan and City’s No.10 headed in the follow-up, it was ruled out by VAR for encroachment.
“I was encroaching,” he said. “I’ve seen it back and watched it back in there and I think my foot is just over the line. VAR doesn’t miss a thing these days, but Vards (Jamie Vardy) got a second opportunity at it and I was always confident he was going to slide it away.
“[It was] an important goal as well, because that second goal, especially away from home, gives us that licence to stay compact. Especially towards the end of the game, it’s an important time in the game.
“Like I said, I don’t think it was anything less than we deserved. We started the game on fire, and we had chances left, right and centre, but we didn’t manage to put them away. I think we defended [well]. That’s why our record is so good.
“We were so compact and gave away few chances, very few clear-cut chances, so it was a deserved clean sheet, which I know Kasper [Schmeichel] and the lads will be happy about, which we all are. A deserved three points.”
Maddison says the Seagulls carried a different form of threat on Saturday, and went on to credit their playing style under Graham Potter.
He said: “Every Premier League game is different. We knew Brighton would throw a different task at us than we’ve had in previous weeks. They’re a good side out there, you can tell.
“They’ve got a manager who wants them to play positively, play out from the back and play through the lines, so at times, it was tough.
“Premier League opposition is always going to be tough, but like I said, we rode the storm and we benefitted from that. We scored a couple of goals on the counter and we were thoroughly deserved winners in the end.”
With six consecutive victories in all competitions under their belt, City are the most in-form side in the Premier League thanks to their ninth league victory of 2019/20.
“Momentum is such a key thing, that’s why teams always win titles and they’re right up there,” added Maddison. They always go through spells where when the momentum is with them, they take advantage of that and they get wins in consecutive games like we’re doing at the minute.
“If we want to be considered a top team, we have to keep doing that, but we know that we’re not going to take our foot off the gas because every game is a tough game in this league, as I always say. We’ll get back to the training pitch, and we’ll keep working hard to try and stay up there.”