Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca praises Sunderland players after defeat

Originally posted on FanNation Sunderland Nation
By Luke Phelps | Last updated 10/25/23

Sunderland suffered a 1-0 defeat away vs Leicester City last night.

James Justin scored in the 12th minute to give Leicester City all three points at the King Power last night, handing the Foxes their third-straight defeat in the league.

Tony Mowbray's side gave a good account of themselves though, having more shots on goal than their opponents but ultimately failing to get on the scoresheet.

Sunderland now sit in 9th place of the Championship table, with Leicester City starting to pull away at the top of the pile.

And Foxes boss Enzo Maresca reserved praise for Sunderland last night. He's quoted by Sunderland Echo as saying:

"Almost all of the games they have been man-to-man off the ball, so we expected it. On the ball, they have weapons like Bellingham, Ekwah, Clarke, Roberts. The goalkeeper is unbelievable.

“It’s been a very tough game. But it’s the game I’m most happy about in terms of the way we handled a different kind of game. The first 20 minutes we struggled to find the right measure of how to press, and then after 20 minutes we pressed very well. We were very aggressive."

Sunderland do boast a lot of technically-gifted players like Maresca points out above, though right now, the Black Cats are in a bad vein of form.

They have quality across the pitch and they showed that last night, so there's no need for Mowbray and co to worry just yet.

But Sunderland will still be gunning for a return to form when they host Norwich City in the Championship this weekend, with the Canaries also out of form and falling down the table.