We Needed To Focus On Our Game, Says Rodgers
- Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City upped their aggression in the second half against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday
- The Foxes won 2-1 at AMEX Stadium, despite conceding early on through Adam Lallana’s opener
- Kelechi Iheanacho and Daniel Amartey helped City beat the Seagulls on the south coast
The Foxes’ 10th Premier League away win of 2020/21 saw them come from behind at AMEX Stadium to claim all three points thanks to goals from Kelechi Iheanacho and Daniel Amartey.
Brighton had initially taken the lead through Adam Lallana’s 10th-minute effort, but City – not for the first time this campaign – recovered from that setback to beat Graham Potter’s men on the south coast.
“It says everything,” Rodgers said of his side’s comeback win. “You come away against a very good side. Brighton had a full week to prepare and we’re off the back of a tough week on Wednesday, so to show that mentality, I was pleased.
“I wasn’t happy with the first half. We weren’t aggressive enough, our pressing was too slow and we weren’t arriving in the right moments to press – our timing was out. The second half was much better, and then once we do that, the tempo of our game was much better.”
“You don’t want to go behind, but when you do, it shows your mentality when you don’t crumble. They’re a very good side. You see the games they’ve won against the top teams, Brighton, so you know they’re a very good footballing side.
“Especially going 1-0 up, they’ve got nice confidence. We just needed to focus on our game. When we did that in the second half, I thought we looked a really good side.”
A superb, no-look pass from Youri Tielemans unlocked the Brighton defence before Iheanacho’s fine finish levelled matters in Brighton, laying the foundation for Amartey to go on and with the game with two minutes to play.
“It was a great pass,” said Rodgers of the No.8’s assist. “Youri’s got that quality to make that precise pass, and it’s a great finish by Kels (Kelechi Iheanacho).
“He’s been absolutely outstanding in this last period for us, and he was very cool and very calm. It was a wonderful finish.”
Finally, when asked about full debutant Sidnei Tavares, Rodgers added: “I thought he was excellent. [He’s] 19 years of age, he can take the ball, he can pass it, he can run.
“He needs to obviously develop physically, which he will do over the next few years, but he went close with a great strike.
“He’s got technique, and I was conscious that a lot of our attacking players and the players that can play forward are out of the team, so we gave him his opportunity and I thought he did very well for 70 minutes.”