Proud Leicester depart for two-week holiday unbowed

Calm and charm personified, Claudio Ranieri strode proudly into the Arsenal press conference room with the air of a winner, shook hands with a few visiting fellow Italians here to report on the match.

He smiled, joked, and exuded confidence, not the look of a man who had just witnessed his side suffer a last-minute defeat against their closest title rivals, having had a player sent off for the first time this season.

Yes, Leicester’s manager castigated referee Martin Atkinson for his bizarre decision making, claiming it was key in only their third defeat of their remarkable season and he admitted to being “a very angry man”. But he spent most of his time praising his hard-working players, who still head the league table by two points and now have a two-week rest.