[ad_1]
City of Cardiff 0 Leicester City 1
Claude Puel praised Leicester's composure after the "difficult week" that followed the death of its owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, which ended in a 1-0 victory in Cardiff.
Leicester returned to combat for the first time since Srivaddhanaprabha and four other people were killed in a helicopter crash in front of King Power Stadium last weekend.
Demarai Gray hit the winner in the 55th minute during an emotional afternoon for all those related to the Premier League club.
"It was tough all week," said Leicester manager Puel. "We went step by step, came back to train and worked together.
"All the players were devastated on Monday, but we resumed training and had to get ready for the game.
"We had to keep our cool, it would not have been possible to succeed if we played this game with emotion.
"It was important to find a balance between emotion, self-control and desire.
"I'm glad we managed to do that and it was a pleasure to experience this result with the fans at the end, because it was the whole family who honored our president."
According to referee Lee Probert, referee Lee Probert had asked Gray to remove his jersey after scoring.
The attacker paid tribute to Srivaddhanaprabha with the words "For Khun Vichai" written on the top he wore underneath.
But Puel said that he had accepted the yellow card: "We played like professionals and it was important that the referee be too."
Leicester's players and management staff began their long journey to Thailand on Saturday night to attend the Srivaddhanaprabha funeral in Bangkok.
"We'll come back in the middle of the week and then we'll have to get ready for a game. [against Burnley] in front of our fans, "said Puel.
"It will be difficult, but we have made our first step today and now we have to manage the next week in the right way.
"But I think it's fantastic to finish this game and this situation with a win and a good game."
Cardiff fell into the relegation zone as Newcastle climbed over them after recording his first win of the season.
Bluebird boss Neil Warnock said some of his players were also affected by the Leicester tragedy, "the training was not the same".
"It's a strange, surreal week, and I'm glad it's so honest," Warnock said.
"I thought the fans were incredible under the circumstances, the respect that they showed and the way they were together. It was very emotional there.
"The players have given everything but it's difficult this week, three or four guys in particular.
"I do not know if it triggered things. But the training was not the same and we had to tell them we had to play the game. "
Source link