Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri allayed fears of a possible injury to goal scorer Riyad Mahrez while refusing to accept his side’s path to the Premier League title is any easier following Saturday’s 1-0 win at Watford.
Mahrez pulled up with what appeared to be an injury while chasing the ball down in the 78th minute. He stayed on the pitch for an additional seven minutes before being replaced by Daniel Amartey, but Ranieri said after the game that there was no cause for concern.
“There’s no injury,” Ranieri said in his television interview after the game. “Just that he was tired, maybe a little cramp, and then I changed him in just the last minute to give more support to the midfield.”
The victory puts Leciester five points clear of Tottenham and the rest of the pack in the Premier League, and Ranieri said he was glad that the Foxes were able to make their superiority count at Watford.
“Important win, big battle. We knew that, but now there will be only battle, for everbody, not only us,” he said. “It was a tough match. Of course we wanted to win. And we created four, five chances — one we scored — and they created two or three.
“It was an open match that both teams wanted to win, and we are so happy now.
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