A Great Performance From The Team, Says Daka
- Patson Daka speaks after scoring all four goals in Wednesday's 4-3 win at Spartak Moscow
- Leicester City came from behind to secure their first win in the UEFA Europa League
- Daka became the first player since Derek Hines in 1958 to score four goals in a single match
- The Zambia international pointed to the nature of the whole team's performance in Russia
With the Foxes two goals down just before the interval at Otkrytie Bank Arena, following strikes from Alexander Sobolev and Jordan Larsson, Daka hit the first of his four goals ahead of the break to give City hope heading into the second period.
Another two quick-fire efforts registered a nine-minute hat-trick, split by half-time, before a fourth strike arrived with 12 minutes to play, reducing Sobolev's second goal of the evening to a mere consolation. Daka is the first player to score four times in a single outing for the Club in 63 years.
A summer signing from RB Salzburg, the Zambia international opened his account for Leicester last Saturday in a Premier League victory over Manchester United and he was thrilled to continue contributing to the team's objectives in Russia on Wednesday.
"[It’s a] very emotional night for me," 23-year-old told LCFC TV. "It’s so hard to describe in words, to be honest. I’m just thanking God to be in this position today and I’m just happy that I was able to help the team, which was very, very important. It’s a great performance from the team.
Daka: A Very Emotional Night
Patson Daka speaks to LCFC TV after scoring four goals in Leicester City's 4-3 victory at Spartak Moscow.
"Everyone is so happy for me. I’m sure you saw it on the pitch. Everyone is really happy. The atmosphere in the team is really great. We’re supporting each other each and every day and we’re putting the team first, which is very important for us."
With four to chose from, Daka selected his first effort when asked to pick his favourite, pointing to the importance in the wider context of the Group C encounter, as it allowed his side to attack the second half in pursuit of more.
"It’s so hard to pick!" he laughed. "I think I’ll pick the first goal that I scored because it was very important for the team. It gave us more confidence of coming back. That goal was really important for my confidence. I just have to keep on building from that.
"Everyone can score, but it’s all about the consistency and that is the greatest challenge. I don’t want to dwell on the goals I’ve scored, it’s all about the consistency, I have to continue working hard and making sure I continue doing what I have to do to help the team."
Leicester climb to second in Group C at the half-way stage, with Napoli set to host Legia Warsaw on Thursday evening, but Daka is keen to concentrate on fixtures on a game-by-game basis, rather than focusing on the standings. He also discussed City's maiden back-to-back wins of the campaign.
"They are very big wins," the Kafue-born forwarded added. "We had a difficult few weeks and these two wins, they are very important for us to continue building our confidence as a team. It gives us a lot of direction going forward.
"At this time, I’d say we don’t have to spend too much time looking at the table because we still have many games to play and we have to concentrate on each and every game that we have coming next.
"We cannot think about the whole games that are remaining, we have to think about the next one, how we’re going to deal with that, and when if win the next one, we have to think about what’s coming next. We have to concentrate on ourselves, not the table, or how many points we’ll get.
"That’s what’s important."
Consistency is now imperative, both personally and collectively, Daka believes, ahead of Sunday's Premier League visit to Brentford (2pm BST kick-off).
"It’s not only us, the team, but also the fans," he continued, discussing the optimism created by Leicester's recent form. "They expect a lot more from us now and it’s because of the performance that we’ve shown in these past two games. We have to continue building.
"We’ve won but we have to keep the consistency going. It won’t be an easy game. Brentford are playing really well. We have to concentrate very much and bring our A-game and I believe the team is ready to fight for the three points at the weekend."