Ricardo: A Nice Feeling

First Team
15 Apr 2022
2 Minutes
Ricardo Pereira credited the whole Leicester City squad after the Portuguese netted the winning goal on a dramatic European night at PSV Eindhoven on Thursday.

- Leicester City are into the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League after a 2-1 win at PSV Eindhoven
- Ricardo Pereira netted the winner for the Foxes, after James Maddison got them back on level terms
- The Portugal full-back was delighted to share the moment with City's travelling supporters
- He also explained his thinking before striking a memorable winner in the Netherlands

Locked at 0-0 after the first leg, City's bid to reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League suffered a blow early on in the Netherlands as Eran Zahavi gave PSV the lead. James Maddison, though, equalised matters with 13 minutes to spare before Ricardo's late winner for the Foxes.

Leicester will now face Roma in the last four of the competition - the first time the Club has ever reached that stage in Europe. Speaking afterwards, though, City's No.21 was eager to pay tribute to his team-mates for their contributions to a thoroughly memorable occasion for the Foxes.

"It’s a nice feeling," the former Porto full-back told LCFC TV. "The win is not just me, it’s everyone, even the guys at home who are injured. They did something for this to happen today.

"It’s very important. We have to keep going. We’ll celebrate today and then tomorrow we have to think about the next game at Newcastle but we’ll celebrate today for sure! It was dramatic to be honest! It was nice. We fought until the end.

"Even when we were losing, we kept playing, kept pushing in the game, and the guys who came in did very well. They made the difference and we fought until the end. Playing away, with their fans, the ambience was nice, but we had to stick together. We fought all together.

"We saw all the centre-backs, Kasper [Schmeichel], everyone was giving their best. That’s why we won."

Ricardo also explained his thought process for the goal, when Patson Daka's initial effort was parried by PSV shot-stopper Yvon Mvogo straight into his path. 

Looking back, he added: "[I was thinking] don't go up! Fortunately, it went in, and that’s the most important thing. You turn and [they fans] are there, even if they are in the skies! The first place I looked to was to them, so it was very nice.

"At half-time, we knew we had 45 minutes. We spoke about that. We wanted to stay calm, to keep playing our game, and believe until the end. That’s what we did and we scored two great goals. [Extra-time] went through our minds, of course.

"One goal can take it all away, but at the same time, we knew we could score and make the difference."