Claudio Ranieri praises Islam Slimani after two-goal Leicester PL debut

Claudio Ranieri praised Islam Slimani’s all-round game after an impressive Premier League debut, in which he scored twice.

The club's record signing, who joined from Sporting Lisbon for £29m, scored either side of half-time to provide the catalyst for the Premier League champions to stretch their unbeaten home record to 19 games in a 3-0 win over Burnley.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

The striker opened the scoring with a header from Christian Fuchs' free-kick and grabbed his second with a close range effort before Ben Mee's own goal completed the scoring.

"He and the team gave a fantastic performance," Ranieri said. 

"It's the first time the fans have watched him and they saw strong he is and how well he defends. He can press, press, press, all around the pitch."

Leicester have struggled to hit the heights of last season this campaign, taking just four points from their first four games. However, they burst back into life in midweek with a 3-0 victory over Club Brugge in the Champions League.

Ranieri admitted he was worried about how the team would react with two games in such a short period, but was delighted his men maintained the high level of quality they showed in midweek. 

Live EFL Cup

"I was curious before the match as it was the first time we'd play a game after the Champions League," he said. 

"We wanted to keep the momentum going after the good victory against Club Brugge. This was another good victory against an organised team.

"When you are playing well you want to score goals but it was very difficult as they were defending so well but it was important to score at the end of the first half and just after half-time."