Enzo Maresca Mention three Secrete behind  Middlesbrough Defeat

The Leicester City manager gives his verdict after his side suffer just their fifth Championship loss of the season, Boro claiming the three points at the King Power Stadium

Missed chances, a lack of quality in the final third, and difficulty adjusting to Middlesbrough’s shape were the three reasons highlighted by Leicester City manager Enzo Maresca for his side’s first defeat in six.

City trailed 2-0 at the interval for the first time this season as Finn Azaz and Samuel Silvera excellently finished off breakaways for the visitors. Maresca made a host of substitutions to try to spark a comeback, but they only mustered one goal, Jamie Vardy scoring with five minutes to go.

However, City did create two clear openings for Jannik Vestergaard and Patson Daka before the first Boro goal, while Vardy and Vestergaard missed big opportunities before the number nine did pull one back. In total, City had 24 shots to Boro’s five.

But the two goals City did let in were both big chances, with Boro’s swift attacks catching them cold. Maresca said Boro set up in a shape they had only used once before this season, against Chelsea, and that his side took some time to get to grips with it.

“Probably it’s one of those days where you have to drop points,” Maresca said. “Between the first half and second half, we created many chances. Before their goal, we created many chances we missed. At the end, it’s football.

“We conceded the second goal an easy way from our throw-in, but we were there until the end. We pushed until the end, we tried until the end and this is the most important thing.

“They played (in their shape) against us tonight only once before, which was against Chelsea in the Carabao. So we expected something different. But even playing in a different way, we created many chances. We tried to adjust and adapt. Probably we lose a bit of balance after we conceded the first goal, conceding some counter-attacks that we need to avoid.

“The other thing, we contact many times with Abdul, Stephy, Kiernan, Ricky, Dennis, and probably we missed the last pass. Even with these kind of things that we need to improve, we had many, many chances that we missed.”

Combined with victories for Southampton on Friday night and Leeds on Saturday lunchtime, City’s defeat means their lead at the top of the division is down to nine points, and their buffer inside the automatic promotion places is down to 11 points. That’s not a concern for Maresca, with plenty more opportunities to earn the wins they need for a place in the Premier League.

“I said (to the players) it’s important that to be there until the end, to push until the end,” he said. “We were close. This is the most important thing. We created chances. We missed. It’s part of our season. We cannot think to win every game.