Rodgers: We Coped Well
- Manager Brendan Rodgers analyses Leicester City’s 3-1 win over Randers in the UEFA Europa Conference League
- Harvey Barnes scored the Football Club’s fastest-ever goal in UEFA competition on two minutes
- James Maddison netted two excellent strikes, including a mouth-watering free-kick
The Foxes qualified for the last-16 of the inaugural competition thanks to Harvey Barnes’ opener and a brace of stunners from James Maddison. The success meant City advanced with a 7-2 aggregate success, and will discover their next opponents when the draw takes place on Friday.
“We made a great start,” Rodgers told LCFC TV in Denmark. “We started well and we scored the goal, so it’s a very good finish by Harvey. We had other good moments in the half, but we rushed our last pass and we didn’t keep the ball well enough at times.
“So, second half, the challenge was to try and keep a clean sheet, which unfortunately we didn’t. We showed great resilience in the moments we had to defend in the game, in that final third, making blocks, making challenges.
“Then, the two goals that James scored were quality, so it’s nice to come away. It was a difficult night, but we managed to cope well. The enthusiasm of Randers was there, you could see they kept going right to end, so you always have to work well.
“The scoreline gave us a chance to rest one or two, and obviously give some game time to players. Like you say, the quality of James’ goals really shone through.”
Barnes took no time to settle back into the XI after his hamstring injury, scoring City’s fastest-ever goal in UEFA competition after netting inside two minutes in Randers.
“It was a shame for him because he played well in the few games, he had to come out and it’s great for him to be back,” commented Rodgers.
Up next for the Foxes is a trip to Burnley in the Premier League on Tuesday, and Rodgers will be looking for another positive display at Turf Moor.
He added: “It’s just a recovery period [now]. A good win can have an effect on the game. [We’ll] prepare for Tuesday and we’re looking forward to it. You just look to your next game. We’ve been playing well of late, we’ve not quite got the results we deserve, but there performance levels were there.
“Today, we got a good result and, over two legs, we scored seven goals. That’s very, very pleasing, so we just have to focus and look to our next game.”