The England striker, 29, joined Leicester from Fleetwood for £1m in 2012, and his goals have helped Claudio Ranieri’s side reach the top of the Premier League table this season.
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Leicester have been made favourites for the Premier League title for the first time this season following their win at City.
“We expected them to come out flying, to be honest, but I thought in the first five or 10 minutes we came out better”, he told BT Sport.
“Like a climber, you need to look up”, said Ranieri.
“They compete with skill, discipline and tactical coherence, but the most thrilling aspect of their play is the collective commitment”, says Matthew Syed in The Times. “I want this type of spirit but if you don’t have it you can’t give it me”. My mind goes over seven days and the next game against Arsenal, a tough match with fantastic players. But we’re alive and we want to fight.
As per usual, the Premier League saw a healthy dose of the unexpected over the weekend.
Certainly, Ranieri believes Leicester’s continued heroics have their title rivals running scared, with City having no answer to the Foxes’ spirit, invention and defensive resilience, despite their line-up costing a mere £21.5million compared to City’s whopping £233.3million.
Manuel Pellegrini, who will be out as Manchester City manager at the end of the season, was not pleased with his team’s effort but made no excuses.
Opposite number Pellegrini, whose side managed only a late consolation through Sergio Aguero, was impressed by Leicester but claimed the title race was far from over.
“Pressure, it could be a problem, but it is important we stay calm… It just so happens that Leicester are giving it a real good go this season”. “We are in a good position now and hopefully we can maintain this”.
It is only three years ago that he played his last game in Non-League when Leicester took a £1million record-busting punt on him. He has shown what a fantastic player he is and, more importantly, he is part of a fantastic group.
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Ranieri also showed he will not allow the players to slacken off: “I know”. They are five points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur and third-placed Arsenal, who both have 48 points after 25 matches.
