Ruud van Nistelrooy bemoans Leicester’s poor start in Everton defeat

Under-pressure Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy admits his side shot themselves in the foot with their shambolic start against Everton at Goodison Park.

The struggling Foxes conceded to Abdoulaye Doucoure after just 10 seconds – the fourth-fastest goal in Premier League history – and were 2-0 down inside six minutes to the first of Beto’s two goals before half-time.

They never recovered and were fortunate to escape with a 4-0 defeat, with Iliman Ndiaye scoring in added time.

“First reaction is that after 10 seconds and after six minutes you are 2-0 down at Goodison against a team with the most clean sheets you give yourselves a mountain to climb and we didn’t come back from that,” said the Dutchman, who has overseen eight defeats in the last nine league matches having only taken charge on December 1.

“If you have a start like that then it’s difficult as then you have to open up early.

“But then again, if you go into half-time at 2-0, it’s a different game. Conceding a fairly easy goal in minute 47 summed up our first half.

“It’s a disappointing afternoon, but credit to Everton. Today we weren’t ourselves. We lost the game in six minutes. We’re better than that. It’s up to us to react to that.”

Van Nistelrooy does not expect to receive much help from arrivals in the last couple of days of the transfer window, however.

“It is about getting more from these players. They are better than the performance today. Improving them and the consistency. That is the focus,” he added.

Everton boss David Moyes is remaining grounded after a third successive win lifted his side well clear of the bottom three.

“I am certainly not getting carried away. We can’t until we are in a strong position,” he said.

“But I’ve got to say, today’s result is a big result for us. After 10 seconds I was thinking ‘My goodness this is fabulous’. The second goal backed it up.

“It puts us in a position where we’re getting a bit closer to the teams above us rather than the teams below us getting closer to us.

“If you’d given me three wins out of the four games we’ve had at the moment, in the position we’re in, I’d say ‘Thanks very much’.

“Let’s see if we can start climbing the league. The job to be done is to make sure we’re a Premier League team next year.”