Positives To Take For Ranieri

- The Foxes went 1-0 up through Jamie Vardy but were reduced to 10 men when Danny Simpson was sent off early in the second half 

- Arsenal substitutes Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck score late to earn the hosts victory 

- The Foxes remain two points clear at the top of the table 

Despite falling to a last gasp 2-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in the Barclays Premier League on Sunday afternoon, Claudio Ranieri was happy with his team’s performances levels. 

Jamie Vardy had given the Foxes a deserved lead from the penalty spot late in the first half but after Danny Simpson was dismissed for two bookings shortly after the break, City were put under increasing pressure. 

They held out until Theo Walcott rifled into the net with 20 minutes remaining and then despite a number of fine saves from Kasper Schmeichel, Danny Welbeck’s glancing header won it for the Gunners five minutes into stoppage time. 

The Foxes remain two points clear at the top of the table however, and the boss saw plenty of positive points from his team despite the man disadvantage. 

“It was a good performance,” Ranieri told Foxes Player HD. “We tried to do our best. We lost the match but I think if we played 11 vs. 11 we could have scored also another goal. 

“We’re disappointed because we saved two great goals with Kasper [Schmeichel] and then just with the last chance they had they scored a goal. 

“I give compliments to my players because it was the same performance as Manchester City. There we won, but today we lost. I’m happy with our performance, not with the result, but the performance was good. 

“Of course everybody is sad but I told them from the beginning, the performance is important and the performance was outstanding.” 

While the Foxes will stay clear at the top of the table heading into a break in the fixture schedule, Ranieri was again keen to underline the game-by-game mantra that has served his side so well so far. 

He added: “For us it’s not important now to think about whether we’re top of the league or not. We want to fight and we want to continue to show this kind of performance and at the end we’ll see where we are.”