Watford spoil Rodgers’ Leicester debut
Watford's Andre Gray scored a stoppage-time winner as Leicester City began life under new manager Brendan Rodgers in underwhelming fashion, suffering a 2-1 defeat at his former club in the English Premier League yesterday.
| WATFORD | LEICESTER |
| 2 | 1 |
| (Troy Deeney 5, Andre Gray 90+2) | (Jamie Vardy 75) |
Watford clinched victory in the second minute of added time as Troy Deeney latched on to a poor goal -kick by Leicester custodian Kasper Schmeichel and fed substitute Gray, who held his nerve to score.
Watford had taken the lead through Deeney in the fifth minute, as the striker got his body across Wes Morgan and rose well to head home Gerard Deulofeu's whipped ball from a free-kick for his first goal in 10 matches at Vicarage Road.
Leicester responded after the break, as Jamie Vardy ran onto a fine through-ball from midfielder Youri Tielemans and dinked his finish over Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster for his 10th league goal of the season.
Despite the defeat, Rodgers said he was pleased with what he saw from his charges.
" I thought the play was excellent," the 46-year-old said.
"It looked like only one team would win the game... We started to get into really good areas and the goal at the end is a case of managing the game. It is something that will get better as we work together.
"I was pleased with the spirit of the team."
The Northern Irishman's counterpart on the Watford bench felt his side's display merited their win, the BBC reported.
"My players played really well and we deserved a good result," Javi Gracia said.
"We are enjoying the season. It is an important amount of points for us, but I can feel the players want more and more."
Watford, eighth on 43 points, are away at champions Manchester City next, while 11th-placed Leicester (35) host second-bottom Fulham. - REUTERS
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