Leicester City manager Willie Kirk was pleased with what he saw from his side against Manchester City despite their 2-0 defeat.
The Foxes held The Cityzens for more than an hour at The King Power Stadium yesterday before Gareth Taylor’s side secured the three points thanks to goals from Khadija Shaw and Chloe Kelly.
Despite falling to defeat at The King Power Stadium, The Foxes boss Kirk saw glimpses of what his new-look Leicester City side can do and he was pleased with what he saw.
“The scoreline is probably more satisfying than the actual performance was because 2-0 would suggest we were still in the game and at 0-0 and 1-0, we are still in the game,” Kirk said when speaking to the media after the match. “When City go 2-0 up, it’s very hard to recover from that.
“There were some pivotal moments though; I think Ellie (Roebuck) made a great save in the first half, early in the game at 0-0, which could’ve changed the course of the game.”
Despite The Foxes suffering another defeat, one name that will be spoken about a lot in the weeks and months to come is their goalkeeper Janina Leitzig who joined in January on-loan from German giants Bayern Munich. Leitzig put on a mesmerising display for all who watched and despite still conceding two goals, she made some remarkable saves to keep the her side in the game.
“I think Janina had a top, top game,” Kirk said when commenting on her performance. “It was a similar performance to one last year against PSG in the Champions League, she made a lot of point blank saves, double saves. She’s a big presence in that goal and quite a daunting opponent for forwards because that size of athlete is not easy to come by.”
Leicester City currently sit four points adrift of Reading at the bottom of the Barclays Women’s Super League table but the club strengthened their ranks in last month’s transfer window. Kirk is happy with the club’s business in the transfer market.
He said “I think it’s been a fantastic window, probably one of the best in the league. Five in and five out is exactly what we were looking for. We’ve added quality and also character and depth in terms of the numbers we’ve now got and players are also returning from injury.
“They’ve all settled in really well and added things on, but also off the pitch. Remy Siemsen hasn’t been on the pitch yet but she’s added a lot off it and she’s a great character. Overall, I’m really happy with the window and I think it makes us strong enough to be able to do what we need to do.”
Leicester City are back in action on Sunday when they travel to Prenton Park to take on Liverpool in the Barclays Women’s Super League.