Daka talks about starting, scoring, and his goal celebration

Patson Daka made only his second start for Leicester City in the English Premier League on Sunday as he led the line against Newcastle.

The Kafue native was drafted into the starting line up replacing the Foxes Legend Jamie Vardy for his full home debut in the league which marked with a goal , an assist and all round good performance much to his delight.

Daka believes scoring and assisting in his full home debut will play a big role in his confidence going forward.

“I’m just thankful that I had my full debut here and to mark it with a goal and an assist was really brilliant for me, for my confidence and also for the team,” Daka told the club’s official website.

“Every player looks forward to starting, but it’s also about what the coach thinks about the tactics going into that game. I think he believed I was the one he wanted to use. It’s not that I’m better than others, it’s the way he wanted to approach this game.”

Daka tapped in a Harvey Barnes pass from close range to double the Foxes lead before being involved in the build of Youri Tieleman’s goal and then setting up Madison for the fourth goal.

It was however the clean sheet that made Patson Daka most happy as the Foxes have struggled to in that area this season.

“It’s a very perfect day for us; four goals, a clean sheet… a massive, massive win for us to gain our confidence going forward. It’s a big thing for us. We’ve been struggling a lot to keep a clean sheet and today we really worked hard to get that as a team,” he said.

“We understand it’s not just about the backline to defend, it’s everyone in the team. You have to defend as a team, you have to attack as a team, and I think we really played according to the way we wanted today. It’s not only for us as a players, but you can see how the fans enjoyed it. That’s really big for us.”

For his goal celebration, Daka went with his trademark backflip and revealed that it was not planned but a spur of the moment.

“It’s since I was a kid. I was doing it for fun. I was just doing it with my friends. Most of the time, I get lost in the moment when I’m celebrating. Whatever comes to my mind is what I end up doing. It’s not like I planned to do this… I just find myself doing it.”

Youri Tielemans opened the scoreline from the penalty spot after Madison was brought down. Daka added a second before the Belgian could grab his brace with Madison adding the icing on the cake.

The four-goal scoreline represents Leicester’s biggest victory of the 2021/22 campaign.