by Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has backed Wout Faes to put his Anfield horror show behind him after two first-half own goals cost the Foxes a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.
After Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had given Leicester an early lead, Faes missed a shout from goalkeeper Danny Ward as he went to cut in a low cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold, cutting the ball horribly as he circled Ward and back. to send.
And just seven minutes later things got worse for the Belgian when Darwin Nunez’s shot rebounded off the post and his effort to fend off danger saw him shoot again into his own goal.
“(The first) is a decision you make as a defender in the game,” Rodgers said. “There are no real problems, the ball is getting into Danny’s hands but as a defender you make these decisions.
“But since he’s been with us he’s been absolutely brilliant. He usually makes the right decisions. He was just bizarre and he was also unlucky with the second one.
“It’s obviously disappointing for him, more with the first one, but he’s a really strong character.
“He has been to the World Cup but hasn’t played a minute, so it might take a few games to get his rhythm back. He has shown what level he can reach. It was unlucky for him tonight, but I thought he responded brilliantly in the second half.”
Liverpool were grateful for Faes’ mistakes after starting the game poorly, allowing Dewsbury-Hall to cut through the defense all too easily after four minutes and giving Leicester the ball away in dangerous positions again and again.
Although Jurgen Klopp was happy to take points, the Liverpool manager had a liking for Faes.
“Yes, I had that time in my career where a player scored two own goals and I really feel for him,” Klopp said.
“The first was absolutely unfortunate. How can it be more unfortunate? Then the second, if you play football, you go full speed ahead, you expect the ball to go in, that’s what your brain tells you, and when it hits the post, you can’t react.
“Of course I have sympathy, there’s room for that, but whatever I say now isn’t going to change that. But the boy will get through this, Brendan will help him and everything will be fine.
For Leicester, who had won three away games at the start of this one, it was a result that went away given the chances they had to extend their lead before Liverpool equalised, as well as late opportunities to equalize at their turn.
“The game worked perfectly as we wanted to start, we scored a really good goal and looked really dynamic, but you can’t plan seven minutes, especially the first one,” said Rodgers.
“In the second half we kept pushing and got into some really good areas, the only criticism is the final pass.”
