We Didn’t Start Quickly Enough, Says Rodgers
- Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City couldn’t find a final piece of creativity to unlock Everton’s defence for a second time
- The Foxes lost 2-1 at Goodison Park, with Kelechi Iheanacho scoring his ninth goal of 2019/20 in all competitions
- Rodgers believes his side must find their consistency in their remaining six matches of the campaign
Everton claimed all three Premier League points after first-half goals from Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurðsson put them into a decisive 2-0 lead, before Kelechi Iheanacho pulled one back after the break.
Leicester had the lion’s share of possession in the second period, but could not find an all-important equaliser against Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees.
“We were very good in the second half, certainly for long periods of it,” Rodgers said. “We’re disappointed with the start, and that’s something that’s crept back into our game, especially since we’ve come back. We haven’t started quick enough.
“After actually controlling the possession, we found ourselves a goal behind, which was soft, but it was early in the game, so you can still get something back in the game.
“I thought the penalty was very, very harsh against us, in taking so long for it to be given, so in this current environment, we’re 2-0 down, it can be very, very difficult.
“We’ve had to try and change it at half-time to rescue the game. We get an early goal in the second half, and then we were much, much better, which makes it equally as frustrating because we really set out to start with that tempo and aggression, and we didn’t do that.
“It felt we had enough of the ball. We got into some really good areas, we just couldn’t quite find that final bit of creativity that could get us the goal. Then, it ended up being a disappointing result for us.”
Rodgers knows City must ensure they are reaching the heights they hit earlier in the campaign in order to get their first success since the Premier League’s restart.
“I assume the responsibility for the results, and the performances – that’s my job, that’s what I’m here to do,” Rodgers added.
“Thankfully, for how we performed for a good part of this season, it’s got us into a really strong position, and even though our form hasn’t been the best for a period now, we still have it in our hands to achieve what it is we [want], which will be a dream for us – getting into that top four.
“We can only think about that once we get the performance level right, and since we’ve come back, we haven’t been able to consistently get that tempo.”
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