Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City vs Stoke City - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 24, 2018 Stoke City's Jack Butland saves a shot from Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
LEICESTER CITY 1 STOKE CITY 1
Feb 24 (Reuters) - An embarrassing own goal by Stoke City keeper Jack Butland gifted Leicester City an equaliser in a 1-1 Premier League draw at the King Power Stadium on Saturday and denied Paul Lambert's side a rare win on the road.
After Stoke took the lead through Xherdan Shaqiri's third goal in successive league games just before the interval, Butland parried the ball into his net when under no obvious pressure from Marc Albrighton's 70th-minute cross.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City vs Stoke City - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 24, 2018 Stoke City's Jack Butland looks on as the ball hits the post from a header Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Although the keeper partly redeemed himself with a subsequent save from Riyad Mahrez, his glaring error meant Stoke remain in 19th place.
It could have been even worse with the visitors grimly hanging on in the final quarter when Mahrez, who was starting his first league game since failing to secure a move to Manchester City, spurned another chance and Harry Maguire and Matty James both hit the post.
Butland's mistake was made all the more embarrassing by the presence of former England, Leicester and Stoke hero Peter Shilton in the stands although manager Paul Lambert refused to blame his keeper for the dropped point.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City vs Stoke City - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 24, 2018 Stoke City's Jack Butland looks dejected after scoring an own goal for Leicester City's first Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
"He is the best goalkeeper in Britain," said Lambert. "Since I have been at the club he has been huge. The mistake will be the making of him because it is all about how you deal with these things."
Lambert was also pleased with the performance of Shaqiri, who is on his hottest scoring streak since joining in 2015.
"Overall, we were outstanding," said the Scot, who gave a debut off the bench to Tyrese Campbell, 18-year-old son of former Arsenal and Everton striker Kevin Campbell.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City vs Stoke City - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 24, 2018 Stoke City manager Paul Lambert applauds the fans after the match REUTERS/Darren Staples
(Reporting by Neil Robinson; Editing by Clare Fallon)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City vs Stoke City - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 24, 2018 Leicester City's Riyad Mahrez attempts to score after having his previous shot saved by Stoke City's Jack Butland Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City vs Stoke City - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 24, 2018 Leicester City's Matty James shoots at goal as Stoke City's Jack Butland attempts to save Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City vs Stoke City - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 24, 2018 Leicester City's Jamie Vardy during the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers Soccer Football - Premier League - Leicester City vs Stoke City - King Power Stadium, Leicester, Britain - February 24, 2018 Leicester City's Kelechi Iheanacho in action with Stoke City's Charlie Adam Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
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