Leicester City have “no fear” over their trip to a sold-out Stadio Olimpico and retain faith they can reach the Europa Conference League final with an against-the-odds win against Roma.
Brendan Rodgers said: “We know we can travel and get the job done. I said to the players afterwards, there were no signs of nerves, there was quality in our football. We have no fear, we can go to Rome and play to that level. We have a fantastic chance to get to the final. Playing against a good team and a top manager, we really dominated the game. I’m really pleased.”
Ademola Lookman forced Gianluca Mancini to turn into his own net in the second half to ensure City go to Rome with the scores level. But there were more chances beyond that, even if City’s pressure and control of play did not quite result in clear-cut opportunities to earn victory. Roma had taken the lead through Lorenzo Pellegrini, but it was one of only two serious forays into the box that the visitors had. And so, Rodgers was delighted with the display overall.
Brendan Rodgers said: “If you look at the squad and the youthfulness of the team, to play to that level I was so pleased. We gave away a sloppy goal. We should have defended the throw-in better. But we didn‘t have to defend a corner until the last 10 minutes. I was so pleased with the confidence of the team, the mobility, the technical quality in how we played, how we passed, and how we imposed our style on the game. It was just a shame we couldn’t score more goals. It was a great response to going behind. We didn’t get disappointed, we kept playing and the very least we deserved was the one each. We can go with big confidence to Rome next week. With a bit more precision and a few more combinations in the final third, we might have been able to get through and get clearer opportunities. I can’t fault the effort of the players and the supporters would have really enjoyed a young team play with that energy and quality and ambition.”
