Rodgers: A Poor Start Cost Us
- Leicester City were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal at King Power Stadium on Saturday
- The Foxes were two goals down after just 18 minutes on Filbert Way
- Manager Brendan Rodgers was frustrated by his side's slow start to the game
- Attention now turns to the visit of Spartak Moscow in the UEFA Europa League
Goals from Gabriel and Emile Smith Rowe in the opening 20 minutes at King Power Stadium sent City on their way to a first loss in six games in all competitions, despite a dominant second-half performance from the home side.
Visiting goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale delivered a string of impressive saves on Filbert Way, frustrating Rodgers' men for long spells, but the Foxes manager was frustrated with his side's slow start.
"A poor start cost us," he told LCFC TV. "It's a lack of concentration and then you’re chasing the game against a good side. We’ve been able to do it in a few games recently where we’ve not bad a great start and come back, but you can’t give teams a 2-0 start, especially a good team like Arsenal.
"We were too passive, so it is a concern. When you have players finding the level and the constant mentality, if you don’t start the game well, then it can cost you and today it cost us. In the second half, we can’t have any complaints. I thought we were excellent.
"We had to make changes to shift the dynamic of the game, but we got punished for that opening 20 minutes. Both [Harvey Barnes and Ademola Lookman] were excellent. They gave us that pressure higher up the pitch. We could condense the game up there and we were much better."
Rodgers says Leicester were unfortunate to come up against Ramsdale in such form, saying City did enough to deserve a point after falling behind, but is now focused on City's next outing. Spartak Moscow are the visitors to King Power Stadium in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday (8pm GMT kick-off).
"He made some great saves," the Northern Irishman added. "At the end of the first half, it’s a big save from the free-kick and then his second action to get up was very good. In the second half, he made some fantastic saves.
"If I’m stood here after drawing 2-2 in the game, I don’t think there could be any argument, but the goalkeeper kept them with a clean sheet and the start from us gave them the two goals, so it’s disappointing.
"For 24 hours, it always hurts when you lose a game, but thankfully, we’re back here on Thursday. It’s an important game for us in the competition. We want to win, we want to push on in the Europa League, and with the crowd here, giving us great support, hopefully we can get the result we want."