Enzo Maresca: Leicester City win at Birmingham 'most important of season', says boss
- Published
Stephy Mavididi (left) scored twice in Leicester win at Birmingham City
Leicester City boss Enzo Maresca says Monday's win at Birmingham may prove to be the promotion-chasing Foxes' most significant victory of the season.
The 3-2 triumph moved Leicester three points clear of Ipswich Town at the top of the Championship.
It also widened Leicester's lead over third-placed Leeds to 13 points after 22 games, as they chase automatic promotion to the Premier League.
"It's a huge win," Maresca told BBC Radio Leicester.
"For me it's probably one of the most important, or the most important win of the season."
Italian Maresca made his feelings known to his players after full-time, with goalscorer Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall saying everyone "understood it was a very big game" after second-placed Ipswich and Leeds were held to draws on Saturday.
"The gaffer said at full-time that when we look back, that could be one of the biggest wins of the season," Dewsbury-Hall said.
"A lot of things happened at the weekend with other teams, so it was important for us that we tried to get a win and we managed to do that."
Two goals from Stephy Mavididi - including a stunning effort on the counter-attack to score the opener just 13 seconds after the ball came off the post at the other end - proved decisive.
Dewsbury-Hall's first-half strike to restore Leicester's lead against Wayne Rooney's Birmingham side was also scored on the counter - very much out of the ordinary for a Foxes side who have focused on meticulous build-up play and patience under Maresca.
"We don't like counter-attacking, but sometimes we need to use it," Maresca said.
"I think 90% of the goals we score are not from counter-attacks, but because we have Pat [Daka] at this moment, and we have Stephy [Mavididi], and Abdul [Fatawu], Wilf [Ndidi] and Kiernan [Dewsbury-Hall], they are all players that can also attack the space, so we use it."