Claudio Ranieri maintains 40 points is still the goal for his side and that no team has enough money to buy his star players in January. PHOTO FILE/AFP
LEICESTER, January 2 – Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri vowed to treat his players with champagne following their 0-0 Premier League draw at home to Bournemouth on Saturday.
Leicester’s failure to win allowed Arsenal to pull two points clear at the top of the table, but Ranieri said that his side’s achievement of reaching 40 points was worth celebrating.
“A draw is not OK, it is only one point, but it is OK as we have 40 points, which was the goal,” said the Italian. “It’s champagne for my players!”
With 40 points from 20 games, Leicester, who narrowly escaped relegation last season, have reached the tally traditionally required for teams to preserve their top-flight status.
Jamie Vardy hit the post for Leicester in the first half, while Riyad Mahrez saw a penalty saved by Artur Boruc on the hour after visiting defender Simon Francis had been sent off for a last-man foul on Vardy.
Leicester have now gone three games without victory and Ranieri acknowledged that they are no longer firing on all cylinders.
“We hit the post, we missed a penalty and had some good chances,” he said.
“We have not scored for three games, but we have had chances. Sometimes everything is right, but now some things are wrong. The performance was good, a fantastic effort.”
