We Wore Birmingham Down, Says Rodgers
- Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City were dominant during their 1-0 Emirates FA Cup victory over Birmingham City
- The Foxes progressed to the quarter-finals thanks to Ricardo Pereira’s header
- City will next face Chelsea in a home tie in the last eight
A late header from Ricardo Pereira sealed the Foxes a spot in the last eight, where they will face Chelsea at King Power Stadium later this month.
After a frustrating first half, City dominated the second 45 minutes and created several goalscoring opportunities, and Rodgers felt their determination shone through at King Power Stadium.
“I thought it was a very good performance,” Rodgers told LCFC TV. “Birmingham are a team that, as you’ve seen from their record since the turn of the year, haven’t lost a game.
“That tells you there’s a resilience there and Leicester City supporters will know from being in the Championship when you’re a Championship team playing against a Premier League team, you’re always going to raise your game that extra percentage as well.
“I thought we were excellent, in particular in the second half. The tempo of our game was better, and we denied them the space much better in the second half.
“I thought first half, we had some good combinations and got in, but then they could play out of their half too easily.
“We just didn’t quite protect the game from behind, but after that, in the second half, I thought we really dominated the game. You felt the goal was coming, and thankfully we wore them down in the end and got the goal.”
Rodgers says Leicester City were much more positive on Wednesday evening, and was pleased that the Blue Army were able to celebrate their FA Cup progression.
He added: “The crowd were great for that as well because these types of games were not easy. You’ve got 11 players in half a pitch, so you really have to work the opposition and tire them out, and I thought the players did that.
“We threatened a couple of times with some great moments of play and I thought we looked a lot better than what we’d been in the last couple of weeks, so we were much more like our game tonight.
“I thought the intensity was good, some of the football was very good and of course, these games are about pride as well. You’re playing for your supporters and we mentioned that before the game.
“We’re playing for some of the players that when they’re retired, they’re going to be walking the streets of the midlands and these are the types of games that give you those bragging rights as supporters and players.
“Yes, it was a very good win for us, and we were delighted to get to the quarter-finals.”