Leicester manager Enzo Maresca says it will be impossible to keep all of his top players happy this season as he aims to take the club back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
The Italian coach made six changes against Stoke, in what was his side’s third game in six days.
The move paid off as Leicester recorded their sixth successive Championship win that kept them top of the table.
Kelechi Iheanacho opened the scoring after 24 minutes before Jamie Vardy came off the bench to wrap up a 2-0 win.
Vardy had started on Wednesday against Preston, with Iheanacho coming off the bench to score.
“That’s why we try to switch them around,” said Maresca. “The other night against Preston, Kele was probably not happy to be on the bench.
“But he came on and was fantastic.
“Here, Jamie was not happy to be on the bench. But he came on and scored, and was happy.
“To be competitive, you need two players for each position so they can compete between them. In the end, we can choose one of them.
“Here we left out Wout Faes, Stephy Mavididi, Wilfred Ndidi, James Justin and Jamie.
“But they cannot think to play 46 games. It’s impossible.
“At the moment, no human being can play every game at the same level.
“Maybe next time, I’ll make six changes, we’ll lose and I’ll be wrong. But we have to make those decisions.”
Maresca accepted that Stoke had been tough to break down, as have a number of visitors to the King Power Stadium.
“We need to improve a lot because we are going to face these kinds of games many times. But we are going in the right direction,” he added.
Stoke manager Alex Neil had nine players missing through injury.
He said he wanted to take the game to Leicester in the second half, but the home side’s strength in depth was difficult to combat.
“If we’d got to half-time at 0-0, our intention was always to try and have a go,” he said.
“You can see why, when you do that, you don’t come here and go toe to toe with Leicester. Particularly when you haven’t got your strongest squad.
“But we had arguably two of the best chances in the game which fell to Nathan Lowe. He’s disappointed, but I said to him afterwards that I’d be more disappointed if they weren’t falling to him.
“If we had a stronger team, we’d get a better feel of where we are compared to them. We had a young side out.
“The minute we changed, they brought on pace at the top end of the pitch.
“Jamie Vardy’s going to cause you all kinds of problems at this level.
“But our set up was good, I don’t think they really had a chance until their goal. That was disappointing from our perspective as Iheanacho was really wide.”
Neil admitted Leicester’s dominance at this level shows no sign of weakening.
“They’ll be one of the best Championship teams in a long time,” he said.
“Just look at the stadium and the fans, and the players they’ve got. They have four internationals who’ve played for England – I don’t remember that happening anywhere else.”
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
