Leicester City fell at Old Trafford to an early Marcus Rashford penalty and despite their best efforts could not salvage anything from the match causing a frustrated Brendan Rodgers to lash out at his stars.
Çağlar Söyüncü’s foul on Marcus Rashford resulted in the Manchester United forward beating Kasper Schmeichel from 12 yards, as the Foxes conceded the first goal in a match yet again.
City’s attempts to equalise, most notably through James Maddison, Ben Chilwell and Wilfred Ndidi, were thwarted, and Rodgers underlined the importance of starting games more positive at the full-time whistle.
“It’s frustrating,” Rodgers told LCFC TV as monitored by Soccernet.ng
“We didn’t start the game well from the very first kick, from kick-off. Then, we gave away the cheap penalty and that sets you back. When you’re away from home in these big games, it’s not the ideal start, but we worked our way into it.
“I think [in] the last 15 minutes of the first half, we were better, and we found our confidence again. In the second half, we were much like ourselves. We worked the ball much quicker, to the sides, through the middle.
“Then, with a little bit of luck, we might have got a goal. But unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. The start of the game, that’s something I know has been a theme and something that we thought we’d become better at, but it’s clearly something we need to improve on.
“I think you have to reflect overall. It’s disappointing to lose a game. I think, as I said, we want to come to places like this and be really effective. The team hasn’t won here for over 21 years, but we get encouragement from the second half.
“The learning, at this level, especially away from home, is that we have to start better, otherwise we’ll get punished. It was a very close game, unfortunately it was decided by a penalty for us.”
Rodgers men face Tottenham Hotspur next in a week’s time with the Foxes boss charging his boss not to dwell on the United result.
“There’s obviously a lot of work for us to do at this level to get to where we want to get to, but the beauty is everyone wants to work really hard and we’re all excited by the potential.
He added: “There are lots of positives today. The supporters were absolutely brilliant. We could hear them all the way through. That was fantastic. We weren’t getting carried away at the beginning of the season having not lost a game.
“Now we lose, we’re not getting too disappointed. There’s obviously a lot of work for us to do at this level to get to where we want to get to, but the beauty is everyone wants to work really hard and we’re all excited by the potential.