Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers rued Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho’s late miss which helped Manchester City move within one win of the Premier League title.
Had Iheanacho found the net, Leicester would have handed Liverpool back the advantage heading into the final day of the season, but Vincent Kompany’s spectacular strike ensured City moved back to the summit with a tense 1-0 win on Monday Night Football.
After collecting Hamza
Choudhury’s pass in space with three minutes remaining, the Nigerian
could only place his shot comfortably wide of Ederson’s post, to the
relief of his former employers.
Speaking in his press conference
afterwards at the Etihad, Rodgers said: “It was the best chance in the
game, and he’s disappointed in the changing room. He should score, I
said that to him afterwards, in the big games there are not many
moments.
“It was tight, we were very, very good in our defensive
organisations. They didn’t have many chances and we didn’t have many.
But the one that came, you have to score that. He knows.
“It’s moments when you can come into the game and make an impact, he’s a great boy, works very, very hard in training.
“He’s
got in front of him a top-class operator in Jamie [Vardy] so it’s
difficult for him to find rhythm. However, it’s moments like that where
you can make an impact. He’s actually done that in the other games.
“It
was a big chance for him, the ball was there and it was on his good
side. But it wasn’t to be. He got himself in the position, I felt we
would have deserved that at least.”
The result means Wolves cannot be
caught in seventh place, with ninth-placed Leicester facing Chelsea on
the final day of the season seeking to move above Everton in eighth spot
to cap a fine turnaround under Rodgers.
The Foxes were 12th in the
Premier League when Claude Puel was sacked and replaced by Rodgers in
February. The Northern Irishman has gained five wins and a draw from his
nine league matches to reinstall confidence back into his young squad.
“I’m proud of the team, it bodes well for the future, the personality we played with,” Rodgers added.
“We
showed we’ve got personality to play with our quality against one of
the best team’s in Europe. It took an incredible goal to stop us getting
something from the game. I’m disappointed because we deserved more.
“To
come into Leicester, where Claude [Puel] had done a very good job
before me, you had the real sadness of losing Vichai earlier in the
season.
“But I look at the squad, the potential in the squad, a lot of young players that I believe can develop and can improve.”