Ruud van Nistorelsrooy admitted that the hope of Leicester City to avoid relegation is over after they were beaten 2-0 by Manchester City on Wednesday.
After looking at 17th placed wolves, the gap widen to 12 points with a 1-0 win over West Ham on Tuesday, 19th placed Leicester fell against a meek defeat in the Etihad Stadium.
Jack Grealisk scored his first Premier League goal since December 2023 in just the second minute, after which Omar Marmoush, who played as a striker at Erling Haaland, injured a second for City.
Leicester only collected two shots in the entire match when they suffered a 14th defeat in their last 15 Premier League matches and a seventh one after the other, after they did not succeed in scoring a single goal in the last run.
Only Crystal Palace once lost eight consecutive Premier League matches in September 2017, while he did not score on every occasion.
Van Nistelrooy admits that the foxes are now playing for pride, with only 24 points available for them.
He said to BBC Sport: “We can really be about it, 12 points with eight games to play … it's a very big difference, too much.
“We have to concentrate the game on the game and present ourselves in the best possible way. That is now the most important goal.
“Before the game I said the gap was already big.
“I told the players that we should make the best of it in the remaining moments at this level, regardless of the table or the score in the game.”
Asked about the goals of Leicester, said the Dutchman -who scored 95 Premier League goals for Manchester United during his play career -: “Ironic, right?
“It's hard for all of us. We work, we try things. We want to improve, the two goals we have admitted were our own mistakes and you can't afford that, especially at City. Goed scoring is a problem, the ball doesn't seem to go inside.
“If you don't score, losing games … A bad start is extra difficult to recover. The gap is now huge, it's a challenge.
“Nevertheless, we have eight games to play and we have to represent ourselves in the best possible way and that is a challenge.”
In the meantime, Stadsbaas Pep Guardiola was satisfied with the calmness of his team when they moved above Chelsea and to fourth place.
“We have not admitted anything, except one chance at the end. It was not easy with 10 players behind the ball,” he said BBC Sport.
“We missed the third goal to be more relaxed, so it was never over, but I am happy with a good performance.
“It was a performance where nothing wrong happened, everyone was focused. We missed a third goal, that's all.”
At Grealisk his first Premier League goal since a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace 16 months ago, Guardiola added: “It's not easy if you don't play regularly.
“It was a charity for him and played in a more central position if he is more comfortable on the sides.”
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