We Weren’t Precise Enough, Says Tielemans
- Youri Tielemans says Leicester City lacked precision against Southampton on Friday night
- The Foxes were held to a 1-1 draw, despite the hosts playing the majority of the match with 10 men
- Jonny Evans cancelled out James Ward-Prowse’s header to claim a point for his side
The Saints played with 10 men for 80 minutes after Jannik Vestergaard was dismissed for a last-man foul on Jamie Vardy, however City were unable to break their sturdy defence down in the first period.
After the interval, the visitors started well, however Southampton took the lead when James Ward-Prowse converted a penalty after Kelechi Iheanacho was penalised for handball in his own area.
But City rallied and claimed a point from the game as Jonny Evans nodded home Iheanacho’s pin-point cross, while Leicester were unable to convert further opportunities to win it.
“It’s frustrating because they were down to 10 men very early in the game, so I thought that we could have had a better chance to win the game,” Tielemans told LCFC TV. “But they showed resilience and we didn’t play to our best. It was a very tough night.
“We didn’t play quick enough, and we weren’t precise enough on the ball in our passing. Our decision making made it very difficult.”
While the Foxes had a numerical advantage for the majority of the game, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men were difficult to penetrate and were a threat on the counter-attack and from set-plays.
Tielemans, who played his 55th match of 2020/21 for club and country, says the Foxes must improve if they are to hit their targets for the remainder of the campaign.
He added: “We have to manage the counter-attacks and we have to manage their set-pieces, which we didn’t do well enough, especially on the set-piece that they got the penalty from.
“We have to react quicker and be more switched on. So, unfortunately, they scored from that and we have to react to the game, where I think we’re in a better position to act. It’s down to us now.
“We have a few games in hand where we can finish the job, but we have to be better than this. We know that every game is a huge game for us. Tonight was a huge game as well. We didn’t play well enough to win the game.”