Brendan Rodgers hails Leicester City players after 9-0 win vs Southampton - 'We were ruthless'

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Joe Krishnan25 October 2019

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers praised his "ruthless" Leicester City side after storming to a record-breaking 9-0 victory over Southampton at St Mary's.

Ayoze Perez and Jamie Vardy both bagged hat-tricks while Ben Chilwell, James Maddison and Youri Tielemans also struck to secure the biggest away victory in top-flight history.

The Saints had Ryan Bertrand sent off in torrential conditions as they were destroyed by the Foxes, who climbed to second with their victory.

And Rodgers declared himself delighted with the "outstanding" Foxes, who are now up to second above champions Manchester City.

"I'm very pleased to see our work rate, we scored some great goals and we were very hungry tonight," Rodgers told Sky Sports.

Rodgers embraces his players after a devastating performance  Photo: AFP via Getty Images
AFP via Getty Images

"It was horrible weather but our focus was outstanding. I'm very pleased how we defended, and we were ruthless. I'm very proud to stand and be the manager of that team.

"We wanted to get the ball back quickly and attack again. A mark of the good sides is you don't let up. We wanted to show we're a good side and we certainly did that in the second half.

"We were ruthlessly simple in our game. When you're so many goals up you can easily slow but we kept focused. We want to be a top team and to be a top team you must be clinical.

"It was a very good team performance and we're pleased to keep a clean sheet. It's good for our goals for but the clean sheet is equally important."

The Southampton players made their way over to the home stand after the final whistle to apologise to the fans who had stayed the full 90 minutes after their worst-ever defeat.

And Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl made no attempt to hide his disappointment and took full responsibility for the "disaster" on the South Coast.

"The performance was a disaster today and I have to apologies and take 100 per cent responsibility – I've never seen a team act like this, there was no fight for anything," he said.

A disconsolate Hasenhuttl apologised to the fans in his post-match interview  Photo: PA
PA

"It was horrible to watch and everyone who stayed to watch is really a fan of this football club. Leicester were in every part of the game better than us.

"I’m a proud man but the way we play today is not the way I want to see my team play. We must get our heads up and that is my job in the next few days."

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