Europa League: Brendan Rodger Gives Leicester City "Huge Credit" For Impressive Start

 

Brendan Rodger admitted his team deserved a "huge amount of credit" for launching their Europa League campaign with a 3-0 opening match win against Zorya Luhansk.  

Despite the absence of the team's top scorer Jamie Vardy following an injury, James Maddison and Harvey Barnes helped secure the victory by leading the side to a 2-0 lead from the first half. 

The goals were Maddison and Barnes' first international goal with an assist from Kelechi Iheanacho on the club's second appearance in the competition. 

"They play a diamond and it's a system where they can hurt you on the inside," said Rodger. "When they had the ball they were a threat but we killed the game in the second half. The players deserve a huge amount of credit."

The Ukrainians were resilient from the start and capable of causing a scare, yet could not save the day after the break, as Iheanacho sealed the victory with the third goal following a defensive error.

 "It was a very good win," Rodger continued. "It's nice to get the points on the board and a clean sheet. We had to work hard, there are areas where we can get better."

The one-time Premier Champions are the Group G leaders followed by Sporting Braga, who also won 3-0 in their opening game against AEK Athens.