Claude Puel Praises Leicester for Incisive Counter Attacks in 'Perfect' Win Against Watford
Leicester City boss Claude Puel was full of praise for his side after they earned an important victory against Premier League rivals Watford. The Foxes took the lead early on in the encounter after Ben Foster brought Jamie Vardy down in the area leading to a penalty.
Vardy stepped up to take the spot the kick and fired it cooly past Foster, with the early goal forcing Watford to be even more expansive as they chased a quick equaliser.
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It left them very susceptible to Leicester’s infamous counter-attacking style that has delivered them so much success in the past. It was a naive approach from Javi Gracia’s men in the opening stages and they paid for it just 10 minutes later when Leicester added a second.
The Foxes broke quickly from a Watford attack with Marc Albrighton lofting a long through ball towards James Maddison. There was still plenty of work to do as Maddison expertly brought the ball under his control on the run. Juggling between the Watford centre-halves, Maddison then delivered a clean volley beyond Foster to seal the win inside 25 minutes.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Puel praised Maddison for his effort and recognised the rest of his team for executing his gameplan to perfection:
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"It [Maddison’s goal] was a fantastic goal. The two goals were from counter-attack simplicity and good runs into a space with a good understanding between players. It was perfect. It was difficult but we managed it well and made a fantastic counter-attack move with great goals."
Leicester dropped deep for the remainder of the game and were chasing shadows a little in an uninspired second-half display. Puel defended his tactics though insisting it was how they’d always intended to approach the game, adding:
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"We need to have a different response against any opponent. We needed to be strong and deeper than the last game. The win was important against a strong opponent with a direct style and we forced them to open their lines.”
