Puel’s Praise For Collective Response
- Claude Puel says Leicester City reacted as a unit to claim a Premier League point against Brighton & Hove Albion
- The Foxes drew 1-1 after Jamie Vardy cancelled out Glenn Murray’s opener
- The fixture will be reviewed on Monday’s Extra-Time show at 6pm GMT
- Gerry Taggart and Matt Elliott will join presenter Dan Bates in the LCFC Radio studio
Inside the opening 30 minutes at AMEX Stadium, the Foxes fell behind following a header from Glenn Murray before James Maddison was dismissed after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession.
However, a brilliant performance in the second half saw City level matters late on thanks to substitute Jamie Vardy’s fine penalty, before they pushed for a winner on the south coast.
“[We’re] happy with the point, I think we deserved it at the end, we deserved three points,” Puel reflected to LCFC TV. “We dominated a lot of the second half with 10 men. It seemed like we played the second half with 11 men.
“I think it’s a fantastic second half. Of course, we had to correct some aspects in the first half, but after the difficulties, we had the capacity to react together and give our best.
“I’m proud about our fighting spirit and good play also because we played very well in the second half with a lot of effort, quality and desire. We deserved to win this game in the end.
“I’m happy about our collective reaction, but if we play also in the second half with this quality, it’s not a coincidence because we played with our fans. The support from them was fantastic in the second half.
“We pushed a lot to come back in the game and also to score another goal. For example, we had chances, a fantastic cross from Marc Albrighton. It was for Jamie [Vardy] a chance. I like our spirit.
“Of course, it’s a shame we conceded a goal and a sending off, but after about our spirit and collective performance, I am happy.”
City have now gone four games unbeaten in the Premier League, and Puel was pleased with the way his side’s latest result panned out after a challenging first half.
He added: “It’s always difficult to play away. We started the game without enough intent to play forward and we conceded a goal and a sending off. We were in a bad situation and at half-time it was important to come back in the second half with desire and quality.
“Not just with our fighting spirit, but we won the ball and played forward with good quality to get back into the game. We were successful and I think we deserved to win, I repeat.
“I’m happy for all my players. The players that came off from the bench gave also a good mentality. The quality of [Kelechi] Iheanacho, [Wilfred] Ndidi and Jamie [Vardy] and all of the squad pushed from the same side and I like this.”