Worried Enzo Maresca explains why Leicester City win over Blackburn was best of the season
City beat Rovers 4-1 at Ewood Park with Wout Faes, Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall sending Maresca’s men back to the top of the Championship
Leicester City overcame Enzo Maresca’s pre-match concerns to secure their “best win” of the campaign and return to the top of the Championship.
City won a club-record fifth straight away league game by beating Blackburn 4-1, the result taking them back above Ipswich in the table. Maresca was especially pleased with the victory, having been worried how his side would cope against what he believed was the best team they had faced so far.
Despite the three-goal margin, the game was a close one, and Blackburn did cause City plenty of problems with both their pressing and their play in possession. Maresca was happy with how the 90 minutes panned out, but did admit his side played with less confidence than usual because of the nature of the Rovers goal, Sammie Szmodics converting after a City goal kick went wrong.
It was our most important win today, since we started,” Maresca said. “I was a bit worried because of the opponent. They are very good. In terms of the way they play, they are the best team we have played.
“They are a complicated opponent. Sometimes the wingers are outside, sometimes inside, full-backs are on the outside, sometimes inside. So it’s difficult to have a gameplan off the ball, the way you want to press, because they move a lot.
“I was a bit worried, so it was the best win since we started. Off the ball, the last half an hour, we were much better. The first 10 minutes of the second half, we dropped, then we start again in the way we prepared the game.
“On the ball, we had some good moments, but probably because of the goal we conceded, we lost a bit of confidence. To concede a goal in that way, we lost confidence. We need to learn and keep it going.”
By adding four more goals to their tally, with Wout Faes, Jamie Vardy, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on the scoresheet, City are now the second-highest scorers in the division, behind only Norwich. But it is at the other end when Maresca is more pleased.
“I’m more focused on us having the best defence,” he added. “We are already working well. We are trying to find solutions for all of the problems. It doesn’t mean we’ve solved them all.
“We are going to face more problems. We are trying to find solutions. If we continue to score, it’s good. It’s the way we want to play.”
