Claudio Ranieri describes first-half show as 'unbelievable' after Leicester lose 4-1 at Man Utd
Saturday 24 September 2016 17:17, UK
Claudio Ranieri described the first-half showing in Leicester's 4-1 defeat by Manchester United as "unbelievable".
Leicester were 4-0 down at the break following strikes from Chris Smalling, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba, with three goals coming from corner kicks.
Ranieri said the Premier League champions are usually strong from set pieces, and put the first-half performance down to a lack of concentration.
Ranieri told Sky Sports: "It was unbelievable what happened. We started very well and in the first 20 minutes it was our match. We put pressure on and tried to create chances, but suddenly we switch off.
"It's not possible to concede three goals from a corner, that means you are not concentrating, and that's it, the match was gone in the first half.
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"We are very solid on corners and free-kicks, it is very difficult to score against us, but today it was very, very strange for us.
"Until now we were very, very strong. Today we made some mistakes, maybe it was concentration.
"OK, I can understand they are very tall, and when they score with a very smart corner, that isn't possible, we weren't very attentive."
Ranieri brought last season's star men Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy off the pitch at half-time before United slowed in the second period.
With their second Champions League group stage clash to come against Porto at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday, the Italian admitted Mahrez and Vardy were brought off cautiously to prevent any injury or fatigue.
"At that time the match was gone, and I prefer to reserve them for the next match against Porto on Tuesday.
"I told them in the dressing room OK we lost, but now it's important to clean our mind, and we arrive in the Champions League, our first match at home, and we want to do our best."
