S
SEARCH
M
SW
Oct 29, 2020 at 5.55pm UK
AEK AthensAEK Athens
1-2
LeicesterLeicester City
Tankovic (49')
Mantalos (21'), Krsticic (59'), Insua (73')
FT(HT: 0-2)
Vardy (18' pen.), Choudhury (39')
Thomas (78')

Brendan Rodgers hails "great win" over AEK Athens

:Headline: Brendan Rodgers hails 'great win' over AEK Athens: ID:420295: from db_amp
The Foxes beat AEK 2-1 to maintain their perfect start to the Europa Legaue.

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers praised his injury-hit side after their Europa League win at AEK Athens.

Jamie Vardy's penalty and a rare Hamza Choudhury strike earned the Foxes a 2-1 victory in Greece.

Muamer Tankovic pulled a goal back early in the second half but Leicester remain joint top of Group G ahead of next week's visit of Braga.

Timothy Castagne (hamstring) and Jonny Evans (back) added to the Foxes' growing injury list, which includes Wilfred Ndidi and Caglar Soyuncu, ahead of the game but Rodgers saluted his battling squad.

He said: "The guys are having to cope with all the injuries and games and are still churning out great results.

"It was a great win considering all the circumstances and all the players we have missing. They are still producing and doing very well.

"It shows the spirit and the unity of the team. With so many players missing to show that level of concentration, work ethic and desire to win bodes well.

"That's the constant growth of this team. It was a really professional win.

"Tim tweaked his hamstring and will probably be out until after the international break.

"Jonny landed awkwardly against Arsenal, he played on and his back stiffened up a bit. He did the warm-up last night but had to go in again. It meant we had to rejig it.

"It was never going to be a fast-flowing game because the pitch was awful. It was a surface the players couldn't really trust. It was very difficult to play really fluent football. That aside we took our chances in the first half."

Vardy opened the scoring from the spot after 18 minutes when he was brought down by goalkeeper Panagiotis Tsintotas.

AEK tried to recover and Kasper Schmeichel saved Marko Livaja's header before the forward shot wide.

But the Foxes doubled their lead six minutes before half-time when James Maddison's corner dropped through a crowd for the unmarked Choudhury to sweep in at the far post.

It appeared Leicester would cruise to victory but Tankovic pulled a goal back four minutes after the break when he fired past Schmeichel.

The former Fulham forward then blew a glorious chance to level seconds later when he shot over following Petros Mandalos' pass.

Cengiz Under hit the bar for the Foxes but they rarely had the attacking punch they demonstrated in the first half, although an improved AEK failed to find a leveller.

AEK manager Massimo Carrera said: "Given the performance from the guys there are mixed feelings. It's a bit bitter. In the first half we were a bit reserved and in the second we were very decisive.

"What we have to do is work hard on the good points and get better.

"When you have a set-piece you have to concentrate, it's up to you to mark your man, if you lose them then most likely you're going to lose a goal.

"Maybe it's down to the lack of concentration but maybe it's down to the skills of an opponent to score a great goal.

"In life and in football you cannot change things and go back in time. We were playing well in the second half so there was no need to change anything."

amp_article__420295 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2020-10-29 21:58:06:
html db last update - 2021-03-10 11:27:37 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Brendan Rodgers

Click here for more stories about AEK Athens

Share this article now:
Greek Superleague Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Olympiacos1210202391432
2AEK AthensAEK Athens1282225141126
3PAOKPAOK126152217519
4OFI CreteOFI Crete124621412218
5PanathinaikosPanathinaikos125252011917
6Aris ThessalonikiAris127231511417
7PAS GianninaPAS Giannina11443158716
8Volos124262024-414
9Asteras TripolisAsteras123451212013
10Ionikos123451116-513
11PanetolikosPanetolikos123271223-1111
12LamiaLamia112451014-410
13AtromitosAtromitos122371325-129
14Apollon SmyrniApollon12147723-167
Scroll for more - Tap for full version

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Match previews - Daily
Transfer Talk Daily
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
UC
Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City1511223292335
2Liverpool15104144123234
3Chelsea1510323592633
4West Ham UnitedWest Ham158342819927
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs148151617-125
6Manchester UnitedMan Utd157352524124
7Arsenal147251720-323
8Wolverhampton WanderersWolves156361213-121
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton154831416-220
10Aston Villa156182124-319
11Leicester CityLeicester155462327-419
12Brentford154561921-217
13Crystal Palace153751921-216
14Leeds UnitedLeeds153751522-716
15Southampton153751421-716
16Everton144371724-715
17Watford1541102029-913
18Burnley141761421-710
19Newcastle UnitedNewcastle151771730-1310
20Norwich CityNorwich15249831-2310
Scroll for more - Tap for full version
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .