Claude Puel says the reason Jamie Vardy ran off the pitch early in Leicester City’s defeat to Arsenal on Monday night was down to a sudden illness.
The Foxes took the lead at the Emirates through a Hector Bellerin own goal, but Mesut Ozil – who captained the side – scored just before half-time to drag his team back into the match.
As sloppy and open as Arsenal were in the first half, they were mesmeric and ruthless in the second period as substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struck twice to secure a 3-1 win.
But there were strange scenes late in the match when Vardy suddenly sprinted down the tunnel, leaving Leicester with just 10 men as they had already used all three of their substitutes.
Asked about the incident afterwards, Puel told the BBC: ‘He was ill he could not come back on the pitch. He seems OK now.’
Puel was full of praise for his side’s first-half performance against Arsenal and felt his side should have been awarded a penalty when Rob Holding handled the ball inside the box.
He continued: ‘I was happy about our first half, it was brilliant, our best half since the beginning of the season. We deserved to score more goals.
I didn’t understand why the referee didn’t give a penalty. It was a penalty and a second yellow card and sending off. This situation can change the game.
‘At the beginning of the second half we lost a lot of balls, we gave them the ball too easily and put ourselves under pressure. But we had chances to be leading by more.
‘We didn’t come back in the second half with the same quality and intensity. But we don’t deserve this result at the end. It was a shame.’
No comments:
Post a Comment