Jamie Vardy
Kelechi Iheanacho may have produced “fabulous technique” for his goal but it was not enough to keep him on the pitch.
Explaining the substitution,
Brendan Rodgers said: “It was just tactical. At the beginning of the second half, we were starting to get exposed on the sides, and for that we needed to make the change to 4-3-3. Even though Jamie didn’t do much tonight, you would still back him to score if an opportunity came his way.”
On Iheanacho’s strike,
Rodgers added: “It was a brilliant goal. It was a good move, we kept the ball well, and then Wilf makes a great pass. It’s good movement from the two strikers, and then fabulous technique.”
Coming into the game on the back of two defeats and with eight injuries in the squad, Rodgers was pleased with the point, particularly after an “awful” start, in which Matej Vydra picked off Hamza Choudhury’s pass, rounded Wilfred Ndidi and finished. After City’s response through Iheanacho, both teams had good chances to win it, Kasper Schmeichel pulling off a selection of outstanding stops, while the woodwork was hit at either end.
Brendan Rodgers said: “When you play Burnley over the course of the season, and take four points, with where we are with the squad, we are pleased. It was an awful start in the game, which tests your spirit, but we showed good moments in response and scored a very good goal. We started both halves not so well, but we looked a real threat and we were unfortunate not to have won the game, hitting the post late on. We take the point and move on. I said that afterwards in the changing room, (Kasper’s) constantly there. He’s been brilliant in my time here, and when it looks like it’s going to be a goal, he has the concentration and desire to stop the ball going into the net. He always produces for us, and was outstanding today when he had to be. He’s one of the top keepers at this level.”
The point moves City six clear of fifth-placed Chelsea in the battle for a top-four place, but it’s still too soon for Champions League talk according to the boss.
Brendan Rodgers said: “We’re not in the top four until the season is finished. That’s where we see where we are. We have to keep working every day and that’s always what we do. I have a brilliant group of players who have to keep pushing game by game.”
The manager said he felt that Vardy would have taken a chance had it fallen to him, but although the number nine was more involved later in the game, there was no gilt-edged opportunity for him to try to convert.
