December 24, 2024
Leicester must be completely obsessed with beating Southampton – Steve Cooper

Leicester must be completely obsessed with beating Southampton – Steve Cooper

Leicester boss Steve Cooper wants his team to be “obsessed” with backing up their first Premier League win of the season with further strong performances after the international break.

Facundo Buonanotte scored the only goal of the game against Bournemouth in the 16th minute, dancing into the box and smashing the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Foxes wanted a penalty when Illia Zabarnyi appeared to manage in the box, but referee Darren Bond waved away the pleas as Bournemouth piled on the pressure in the second half.

The Cherries thought they had equalized when Evanilson glanced over Lewis Cook’s free-kick, but his celebrations were cut short by a late offside flag as Leicester hung on.

Cooper was relieved to have secured a first victory before the last break and said: “I feel happy for the players, equally happy for the fans and staff, it has always been important to get the first victory in the Premier. League.

“I’ve seen a lot of them win here, I wish it was earlier, we know that. We could have done better in some things, but we weren’t lucky either, so I’m just glad everything went well.

“It’s good to win but we have a lot of work to do to be a force.

“It’s the international break and the work continues and now we have to be completely obsessed with beating Southampton in a few weeks.”

Argentinian Facundo Buonanotte, 19, has been one of the standout players and his brilliant start to life in a Leicester shirt continues.

He scored his second goal of the season and Cooper was full of praise for his winning goal.

He added: “He’s a really talented young man, with a really good attitude towards the game. I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of players of his age and similar talent.

“He is aggressive, takes risks with the ball and for a creative player he also puts in a defensive effort. We like working with him, his shots, his passing for (Jamie) Vardy’s chance.

“He’s a player who can make the difference.”

Bournemouth were looking for back-to-back wins and failed to back up Monday’s impressive performance against Southampton against another team who have had a difficult start to the season.

Andoni Iraola lamented his side’s inability to take their chances, making 17 shots to Leicester’s six.

Iraola said: “It’s a difficult moment because we can look at the start, the chances, the corners we had. We think it’s probably not fair, but in the end they took their chance and we didn’t.

“We hit the post, the bar, a great save from the goalkeeper by Ryan Christie and we had more than enough chances to score.

“We don’t punish the opposition when we play better and when you don’t take your chances you can lose these types of games.

“I think we give credit to Buonanotte but other than that we didn’t concede any other chances.

“On the other hand, we had a lot more and we have to improve, especially on the finishing side because that’s what makes the difference and gives you points.”

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