‘A Massive Result’ – Maresca’s Verdict On Sunderland Victory
- Leicester City overcame Sunderland 1-0 at King Power Stadium on Tuesday night
- James Justin scored the winner to keep the Foxes top of the Sky Bet Championship
- Manager Enzo Maresca discussed the magnitude of the victory following full-time
- His side have extended their lead at the top of the table to eight points
James Justin’s 12th-minute header, converting Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s corner, proved the difference at King Power Stadium, though it was a hard-fought result for Maresca’s men, who were pushed to the very end by the Black Cats.
“It was a big, massive result,” City’s Manager reflected at full-time. “They are a very good team. We expected them in the way they arrive here. Off the ball they work man-to-man. It’s always difficult for us because against man-to-man it’s not easy.
“Probably at home it could be [the toughest game]. Every away game we face is difficult but sometimes when they are more aggressive it’s difficult because they want to play and they want to press high, cover the ball and create chances, but that’s normal.
“We work during the week on set pieces. As we’ve said, sometimes we score them, sometimes we concede them, but it’s part of the game.”
Records continue to be broken, with Leicester just the third second-tier team in history to claim 12 victories in their opening 13 games. It’s now eight consecutive Sky Bet Championship triumphs, opening up an eight-point gap at the division’s summit.
The Italian explained: “I’m very happy because what the players have done is something unbelievable, [winning] 12 out of 13 and we need to continue. The only problem is what I just said to the players, that [in general] we lose more than we win so we need to understand that and to enjoy the moment and continue.
“But it’s not normal and the same message for the fans - they have to enjoy the moment but they have to think that what they have done is unbelievable and we need their support always.
“But you see how we struggled to win a game, which means it’s not easy tonight. The last game, we were 1-0 down and then we came back and won the game. It’s never easy.”
Wilfred Ndidi missed out through injury and the Manager provided an update on the Nigerian midfielder ahead of facing Queens Park Rangers on Saturday – City’s next assignment in the league.
“We’ll see, he could be [available],” the 43-year-old added. “It was a small problem, a bit of tiredness and now it’s normal as we play every three days, so we don’t want to take any risks with him.”