Southampton 0-9 Leicester City: Ben Chilwell says Foxes are 'here to stay at the top'
- Published
Ben Chilwell scored the second goal of his professional career in his 106th appearance
Leicester City defender Ben Chilwell said the Foxes are "here to stay at the top of the league" after they thrashed Southampton 9-0 to move up to second in the Premier League.
Jamie Vardy's injury-time penalty saw Brendan Rodgers' side match Manchester United's 24-year-old record for the biggest ever win in the competition.
Leicester move a point above Manchester City and five behind leaders Liverpool.
"Everyone in the league is waiting for Leicester City to slip," said Chilwell.
"It's nice to be at the top of the table, we really do want to stay there and there is confidence within the dressing room that we can stay there," he told Sky Sports.
Leicester, shock title winners in 2015-16, finished ninth last season following Rodgers' appointment in March. The improvement shown under the former Celtic boss convinced many that the Foxes were the side capable of breaking into the top four this campaign.
Their electric start, accompanied by mixed performances from some of the so-called 'big-six' sides, has only served to reinforce that view.
Chilwell added: "We push each other hard in training, the gaffer doesn't let our standards slip. It's a really good squad and we just need to keep progressing.
"We're here and we're here to stay at the top of the league. We just need to keep working hard."
'We were ruthlessly simple' - Rodgers
Rodgers delighted with 'ruthlessly simple' Leicester
Only Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola can boast more Premier League points than Rodgers since his first game in charge on 3 March.
The Northern Irishman - who took Liverpool to within two points of the Premier League title in 2014 - has won 11 of his 20 league games in charge, while Guardiola's reigning champions have claimed 15 victories in that time.
The Foxes, who have accumulated 20 points from their opening 10 games this season, have one point more than at the same stage of their title-winning campaign, and Rodgers said his free-scoring side had made him "proud".
"I'm very pleased to see our work rate, we scored some great goals and we were very hungry tonight," Rodgers told BBC Sport.
"It was horrible weather but our focus was outstanding. I'm very pleased with 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 any good side is you don't let up. We wanted to show we're a good side and we certainly did that in the second half."
Managerial Premier League records since Brendan Rodgers' first game in charge of Leicester on 3 March | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Games | Wins | Draws | Defeats | Goals for | Goals against | Goal difference | Points | |
Jurgen Klopp | 19 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 14 | 32 | 53 |
Pep Guardiola | 18 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 48 | 12 | 36 | 46 |
Brendan Rodgers | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 42 | 17 | 25 | 37 |
Vardy and Ayoze Perez both struck hat-tricks as Leicester recorded the biggest ever victory by an away side in an English top-flight league match in the 131-year history of the Football League.
Seizing the initiative after Ryan Bertrand's red card for a poor tackle, they also became the second team in Premier League history to establish a five-goal lead in the first half of an away game in the competition, after Manchester City managed the feat by the same score against Burnley in April 2010.
"We were ruthlessly simple in our game. When you're so many goals up you can easily slow but we kept focused," added Rodgers.
"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."
Kasper matches dad's achievement
Peter Schmeichel was in goal when Manchester United recorded their record-breaking 9-0 victory over Ipswich at Old Trafford in March 1995.
And it was his son, Kasper, who was in goal for the visitors to witness that record being matched at St Mary's on Friday night.
"Kasper is really happy, the only other keeper to have a nine was his father," Rodgers added.
"We believe in our work, believe we can push over the course of the season. Our mentality is how we work every day. The players want to get better and improve."
Vardy, who made it eight goals in seven games with his hat-trick, added: "I got made aware by Jonny Evans there could be a record.
"He told everyone at 6-0 there was a record and was adamant we were going to go for it.
"We were really hungry."