The manager gives his verdict on the 2-0 FA Cup win over Cheltenham Town on Saturday
Marti Cifuentes and the Leicester City players applaud the supporters after the 2-0 win over Cheltenham
Marti Cifuentes and the Leicester City players applaud the supporters after the 2-0 win over Cheltenham
Marti Cifuentes has requested the “best version” of Stephy Mavididi in the second half of the season after the Leicester City winger made the difference in the FA Cup win at Cheltenham.
Mavididi set up Patson Daka’s opener and then scored a terrific solo goal at the EV Charger Points Stadium to seal City’s place in the fourth round of the competition.
Together with his assist for Abdul Fatawu’s winner against West Brom, that’s now three goal involvements in two games for Mavididi.
He only had four goal involvements in his first 22 appearances this season and was dropped from the starting line-up for the West Brom game, Jeremy Monga taking his place.
Cifuentes does not feel he’s seen Mavididi at his peak consistently since he took charge, and wants to he ensure he delivers that over the coming months.
“We know Stephy is a quality player,” Cifuentes said. “We want consistency in his performances because he’s capable of making a difference, not only in games like today but in top-level Championship games.
“He’s an important player for us. Last season was not the easiest for him. This season he has picked up a couple of injuries, but hopefully we can see the best version of him in the second half of the season.”
City were far from brilliant but they ticked off their two main objectives, sealing a place in the fourth round and keeping a clean sheet for the first time in 21 games.
“Perhaps a summary is that it was a professional performance,” Cifuentes added. “You can see every year there are some surprises. It’s a beautiful competition. But we didn’t want to be that kind of surprise.
“I asked the guys to start well in a sold-out stadium, knowing that this can create an atmosphere. It was crucial to take the lead and score the second goal just before halftime. We wanted to score more.
“But one of the targets we had with the guys was to keep a clean sheet. It’s important for our confidence because it’s been a while since the last time we did.
“Perhaps in the second half, the ball tempo was not as good, we should have put more pressure on than we did.
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“Overall it was a good performance according to what we wanted to achieve today.”
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