Leicester Survive Boxing Day Blues to Hold Man Utd

Leicester Survive Boxing Day Blues to Hold Man Utd

Leicester City Manager, Brendan Rodgers, said his side showed the personality of a “huge club” as they came from behind twice to earn a point in 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Boxing Day.

Axel Tuanzebe diverted a close-range effort from Jamie Vardy – who had an otherwise quiet afternoon – into his own net in the 85th minute to deny the visitors a record-equalling 11th consecutive away win in the Premier League.

Bruno Fernandes had given United the lead with just over 10 minutes left when he latched on to substitute Edinson Cavani’s through ball and finished past Kasper Schmeichel.

Marcus Rashford opened the scoring when he got on the end of Fernandes’ pass to slide in his 50th top-flight goal, before Harvey Barnes hit a fine first-half equaliser.

The Foxes remain second in the table and Rodgers says his side’s resilience shows they can “compete at the highest level”.

“We showed lots of potential last year but with more coaching time and more confidence the players will improve,” said Rodgers, whose side have already beaten Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal this season.

“When you play against huge clubs, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, they have that personality but we played with personality and authority in the game.

“We’re nowhere near in terms of budget but from a football perspective we were competitive.”

The result at King Power Stadium ended United’s 10-match winning league run on the road – one short of the record set by Chelsea in 2008.

“We gave them lots of problems and, looking at it, we had some real authority in the game,” added Rodgers.

“It was the very least we deserved. We showed real quality and showed we can compete at the level against a team who had won every game away from home.”

Both sides retained their pre-match position in the table before Saturday’s other fixtures, with Leicester three points behind leaders Liverpool and one ahead of third-placed United.

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