Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has cooled talk of the Foxes finishing in the top four of the Premier League following their demolition of Newcastle. The Foxes have been touted as top-four contenders following an impressive start to the season – and that continued with a 5-0 win over the Magpies at King Power Stadium on Sunday.
The visitors may have been down to 10 men after Isaac Hayden was sent off, but the manner in which Leicester killed them off was impressive. The win moves them up to third in the table, and, with doubts surrounding the top-four credentials of Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United this season, the door could be ajar for the Foxes.
However, Rodgers is refusing to get carried away. “It’s very early in the season.” Rodgers revealed. “We know it’s a big ask because of all the other clubs that have been regulars there. We are only really focusing on how we play, looking at our performance levels.”
The Foxes went ahead through Ricardo Pereira’s 16th-minute opener before Hayden was given his marching orders just before half time. After the break Jamie Vardy scored twice, either side of Paul Dummett’s unfortunate own goal, before Wilfred Ndidi completed the rout late on.
Leicester’s fourth win in their last five top-flight matches moved them up to third in the standings, two points behind Manchester City and seven adrift of leaders Liverpool, who the Foxes play next Saturday.
Of the performance itself, Rodgers added: “It was an outstanding performance and result. Going down to 10 men can sometimes work for or against you but I thought how the players dealt with that and managed the game was outstanding because you need to be able to press the game and work arguably even harder.
“In the second half the players showed a wonderful appetite to do that. We pressed it so hard, were hungry in the game and hungry for goals. A clean sheet, five really good goals and a really good day for us.”
