‘Very bad’ – Leicester City boss reacts to Leeds United defeat in ‘unbelievable’ Elland Road atmosphere
Enzo Maresca, the manager of Leicester City, called the atmosphere at Elland Road, which helped Leeds United overcome their rival for top spot in the standings, “unbelievable.”
At Elland Road on Friday night, the Foxes’ head coach could do nothing but watch as his league-leading team gave up three late goals. After Connor Roberts, a second-half substitution, cancelled out Wout Faes’ first goal with ten minutes or so remaining, Leeds took the lead minutes later thanks to a deflected strike from Archie Gray.
After Daniel James’ free kick, Patrick Bamford added a third goal in stoppage time. He stuck out his knee to deflect the ball past Mads Hermansen and give the home team a crucial win that will help them qualify for automatic promotion this season.
Following his team’s second straight loss, Maresca held court with media and stated: “I think that up until the goal, we were in control, we dominated, and we created many chances.”
“When you concede a goal in the final ten minutes of this kind of game in this stadium, it’s easy either you dropped it a little bit or because they are mentally stronger than us. After we admitted that their mentality was superior to ours.”
Leeds’s perfect home record was in jeopardy going into the last stages, but their three late goals saved it. With their victory over Leicester, United has won nine straight Championship games this year and 19 straight home games without a loss in all competitions.
“It’s football, it can happen that we score, that we concede,” Maresca said. “We didn’t seem mentally weak tonight since we were in charge and had the upper hand. It’s easy for them to feel better mentally than we do after a concession at this stadium. Although we were able to lessen the surroundings, it was unreal during the last ten minutes.
“They [the players] feel exactly the same way I feel, very bad because we lost.”
With their victory on Friday night, the Whites reduced Leicester’s lead at the top of the league to six points. On Saturday afternoon, Chasers Southampton and Ipswich Town will play at 3 p.m.