Brendan Rodgers was in a buoyant mood after Leicester City picked up their first Premier League victory of 2022 with two late goals against Burnley.

The game looked to be heading towards a draw after a string of outstanding saves from Nick Pope but James Maddison and Jamie Vardy delivered the goods in a highly effective double substitution in the second-half. 

This result, alongside the recent wins against Randers in the Europa Conference League, will ease the pressure on the Northern Irishman – who has endured a difficult campaign in his third season at the club. 

On the game

While Leicester won it late, it was a thoroughly deserved three points on their part and Rodgers was elated with what he saw.

“I’m delighted," he said. "We knew with the form Burnley have been in, it was going to be tough. It’s always a challenge, mentally and physically. We started the game very well. Pope made a great save from [Harvey Barnes], but I felt in the last 20 minutes, we started to gave the ball away too cheaply, we invited that pressure.

"We dealt with that well, our concentration was good, but it was just a case of trying to sustain the attacks a little bit more. The players did that very well and we got the goals.”

On whether he felt his team would run out of luck, Rodgers added: “We kept persisting. He’s a top class goalkeeper, we kept searching and James scored a great goal.”

On dropping Maddison

Maddison had been in good form for Leicester and the fact he was dropped raised some questions. However, Rodgers had the last laugh as his number-ten helped to swing the match in the closing moments. 

“I just felt we needed more physicality early on in the game, with Ki (Dewsbury-Hall) pressing, giving us an extra man in midfield, knowing we could introduce him later on. Some of the problems we’ve had is we haven’t pressed the game well enough.

"We won at Randers but if you concede 29 shots, that’s not good. We needed to change the frontline."

James Maddison celebrates after coming off the bench and scoring the opening goal: Alex Livesey/GettyImages
James Maddison celebrates after coming off the bench and scoring the opening goal: Alex Livesey/GettyImages

On Vardy returning

Vardy made a key contribution to the Foxes from the bench, neatly teeing up Maddison for the opening goal before heading in a second in the final minutes. He couldn't have asked for a much better return from injury and Rodgers was delighted with his striker's efforts. 

"I was so happy that he could be involved. We were thinking it was going to be Leeds, but he wanted to help the team, which says everything about his attitude. He was a real catalyst for us.

"You see his movement, his link-up play was really good, and then he was in the right position to score. Great introduction for him and great to have him back.”

On the clean sheet

Rodgers was happy to take note of the shutout but he didn't want to be drawn too much on it, highlighting that it's a collective effort across the board. 

"Clean sheets are very important, but you just want to win games. It was a real examination, but it shows when our concentration is right, we can do it. Wolves away we played well and didn’t get the result.

"We didn’t give too much away tonight, Kasper (Schmeichel) didn’t have too much to do. It was a really good result and performance.”

 
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