Leicester broke the Premier League record for the biggest away win
Saturday 26 October 2019 11:29, UK
Leicester made Premier League history with their 9-0 win against Southampton. Read how Brendan Rodgers, Ralph Hasenhuttl, the Sky Sports pundits and more reacted to the result.
Leicester recorded the joint-largest ever margin of victory in Premier League history, alongside Manchester United's 9-0 win over Ipswich at Old Trafford in March 1995.
The Foxes also 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.
'We want to get better'
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers, whose side moved up to second in the Premier League table, insists there is still more to come from his side after their record-breaking win.
"We said at half-time, keep your speed in the game and we have to punish them," he told Sky Sports. "It is tough for Ralph but we have to do our job and score as many goals as we can.
"The game is 0-0 at half-time we said. This is part of our education we have to come out of the boy zone and play like a man and respect the game. They are very talented and learning to be ruthless.
"Kasper (Schmeichel) is really happy, The only other 'keeper to have a nine was his father. 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.
"A great, great win and now we have to go focus on the cup game."
'Leicester are here to stay'
Leicester defender Ben Chilwell, who scored his side's opening goal, sent out a warning to the rest of the Premier League following his side's huge win.
"We push each other hard in training, the gaffer doesn't let our standards slip," he said.
"Everyone in the league is waiting for Leicester City to slip. We're here and we're here to stay at the top of the league. We just need to keep working hard.
"It's nice to be at the top of the table, we really do want to stay there and there is confidence in the dressing room that we can stay there. Everyone is pushing each other, it's a really good squad and we just need to keep progressing."
'We knew about record at 6-0'
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, who scored a hat-trick and the record-breaking ninth goal, said his side were aware of the record because of team-mate Jonny Evans.
"We actually found out [about the record] at 6-0 when Jonny Evans came sprinting over and said if we carry on doing what we're doing we can get the record.
"We've gone all the way to the end and managed to do it. Great performance from the lads and absolutely buzzing for the fans."
Comparing Leicester's current crop to the side that stunned football to win the Premier League in 2016, Vardy added: "I think football-wise it's different.
"There was a lot of counter-attacking when we won the league and I think you've seen tonight that we can attack and keep the ball really well at pace and we can hurt anyone."
The result comes two days ahead of the first anniversary of the death of late Leicester owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha.
"The main thing that Khun Vichai ever wanted from us was to fight and win and I think you can see tonight that we've done that in amounts beyond what we've ever seen playing-wise," said Vardy.
"Credit to the boys and hopefully the boss is looking down on us."
'We both get a ball'
And finally, Leicester's other hat-trick hero, Ayoze Perez, hailed his side's mentality and revealed both him and Vardy would be getting a match ball.
"What an unbelievable feeling! It was an unbelievable performance, we cannot ask for anymore. We showed a top team mentality, we kept going until the end and it was an amazing night for everyone."
"We are not sharing the ball," Perez added when asked by Gary Neville who would keep the ball between him and Vardy. "I have mine and Vards asked for his! We are having one each!"
Gary Neville saw a team with something to prove, saying after the game: "We can always focus on the defending, and there was some poor defending, but there was some real high quality from Leicester amongst it. Leicester were clinical. It's so easy to see teams go 3-0 up against 10 men and ease off and go through the motions. They punished Southampton badly and they didn't stop. It was a team trying to prove something.
"We said before the game what could they do this season. The fans seemed to veer towards top six but the confidence they'll pick up from this win, it was a really good performance. It takes a lot to do that."
Jamie Carragher believes Leicester can rattle the traditional top six, telling Sky Sports: "They were brilliant. Manchester City and Leicester are probably the two teams you don't want to go down to 10 men against. There was a spell of about four or five minutes in the game when I was watching Brendan Rodgers and he was getting so frustrated. It was 3-0 against 10 men - the game was over, but he wanted to see what his team were about.
"When a team goes down to 10 men there's usually always someone who tries to dribble, get goals or do something stupid, but no one on that pitch in a Leicester shirt played for themselves. They kept playing for the team and that's testament to Brendan Rodgers. There's no doubt Leicester are the real deal. For the so-called big six, Leicester will be a massive worry."
'The stuff of nightmares'
Southampton's Nathan Redmond did not hold back in his assessment of the match, telling Sky Sports: "It was an embarrassing performance, the stuff of nightmares and especially playing at home.
"It just wasn't good enough and one of the poorest performances since I've been at the club and we'll have to debrief that whole game from start to finish tomorrow.
"There were a host of things that went wrong - the red card decision and then the quick goal at the same time. We conceded goals far too quickly in the first half.
"We need to do much, much better. I think we had a few players out of position after the sending off and we tried to deal with it as best we could.
"There are the things we need to look at tomorrow, but it was an embarrassing performance."
'We apologise for the performance'
Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl took full responsibility for his team's display, apologising to the club's supporters for the performance.
"It would be easy to say the red card after 10 minutes was to blame but I think it's not normal to discuss every goal and every high of the result," he told Sky Sports.
"I take 100 per cent responsibility for this result today and it was no performance from my team this cannot happen in this way. The best thing in the stadium - besides the opposition - were the crowd who stayed in the stadium. How they act is more than we deserve, and I apologise for this no performance today.
"We were not committed enough and with how strong Leicester were, we just couldn't defend against it. If you ask me if I'm shocked tonight, with every goal we conceded, what do you think?"
"For me, I've never had such an experience in my entire managing career."
Hasenhuttl added that he agreed with Redmond's assessment that the performance had been "embarrassing".
"Not easy [to recover] but we have to stand up again and show a different face."
When asked how bad Southampton's performance was, Carragher responded: "Shocking. I actually felt sorry for him (Hasenhuttl) in some ways. I was a little bit critical of him in the first half. I thought he should have changed the system and come away from the three at the back, but really once the goals were flying in forget systems, forget the red card, it was a shocking performance.
"The manager will stand and fall by results but there is no way at 9-0 and the way they performed there that I'm going to point the finger at the manager. Some of those players there were a disgrace really.
"People think about the extra man in football and what it does it means it's very difficult to go and win a game, but it doesn't mean you can't stop the opposition winning a game. I know it was 1-0 at the time but there's no way that should not just finish 3-0.
"Going down to 10 men happens a lot in the Premier League but you don't see 9-0. Even at the start of the second half, Vardy had another good chance and you are thinking where is the backbone in this team? It was an absolutely disgraceful performance that will reverberate around the Premier League, but also that's one of the worst in Premier League history, not just for Southampton, but that any of us have ever seen.
"You have to pick yourselves up because you can't afford something else like that again. That will now be a massive fear, not just for the manager but those players too because their confidence will be absolutely shot, and understandably so.
"To have to play against Manchester City next, probably the best attacking team in the world. We saw what they did scoring eight against Watford. You fear for Southampton going there and the bad thing about it is they'll go there and if they get beat 4-0, they'd be happy because you get to that stage where you think we can't have something like this again."
Neville believes the fans could be turning on a "fragile" Southampton team, explaining: "I said before the game they were displaying characteristics of a team that you'd really worry about. They just looked naive and they did look like they were well coached and had a system of play, but it was a system of play that if you are not good at it you'll get beat and beat badly.
"You see some teams that have got a lot more resilience to them. They're more solid, they are more rigid and would cope better with losing a man or even going behind in a game. You look at Southampton and it looks so fragile and you look at some of the young players in that team and there are a couple out on that pitch, who have made really poor mistakes, that will need taking out after that game. But there were also experienced players in the centre of defence that made really poor errors and there were no excuses for some of them.
"I always think it's a worry when the stadium is empty. We saw it at Sunderland over a period when they were losing badly, and these fans here, I've always thought of them as being really friendly fans and fans that would always stay with the team.
"But tonight, they were booing them at half-time, they were booing them at the end and most of them left. It was a terrible night anyway, but the stadium must've only had five or 6,000 in it at the end. That will be a real worry."
