This chaotic match will have repercussions, possibly on the football front, definitely in disciplinary terms. Leicester City recovered from anger and disarray to salvage a draw that they celebrated like a victory. Two-goals down and destabilised by a sense of persecution following the first-half dismissal of Jamie Vardy and the award of a penalty against Danny Simpson, the champions stormed back and equalised with two minutes to go in normal time.
The thrilling 4-2 victory over Manchester City last Saturday did not prove to be a turning point in their Premier League campaign, but maybe this will.
What is certain is that Leicester will face disciplinary proceedings after they were shown six yellow cards in addition to Vardy’s red and the most extraordinary sight on a wild afternoon was of Kasper Schmeichel ushering the normally placid Claudio Ranieri away from the referee, Craig Pawson, at half-time.
The Italian said that his representations to Pawson – and his subsequent gestures to the Leicester fans – were intended to defuse tension or at least turn it into positive energy. The authorities will probably invite him to elaborate on that.
Whatever appears on their rap sheet, Leicester’s away record remains awful. This was their second point on their travels this season, but the context in which it was gained could make it worth more. For a while they had seemed on course for a heavy beating and a full-blown meltdown.
Leicester’s woe began in the 28th minute when Vardy was sent off for a tackle on Mame Biram Diouf that Pawson deemed to be dangerous. The striker lifted both feet off the ground as he dived for the ball in his own half but he had landed by the time he connected with it. Pawson, who had been criticised in midweek for failing to punish Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo for a two-footed lunge at Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, ruled it to have been reckless.
There were suggestions that Vardy had been unbalanced by Glen Johnson as he went into the challenge, something the Stoke manager, Mark Hughes, referred to. “People are trying to say he was pushed and that’s the reason he jumped in with two feet off the ground,” he said. “It looked to me like he had two straight legs and out of control.
“There have been a couple of incidents like that where players have done similar and got away with yellows but those were deemed to be wrong, so the referee got it right.”
Leicester’s rage intensified 11 minutes later when Stoke were given a penalty after a cross by Bojan Krkic hit the outstretched arm of Simpson as the defender, two yards away from the crosser, tried to make a block. Deliberate? No. Careless? Debatable. Krkic capitalised from the spot.
Leicester lost their cool after that and it looked like they would be lucky to end the match with 10 players on the pitch. Three of their players were booked for dissent.
To compound Leicester’s grievance, fortune turned against them. Stoke doubled their lead just before half-time when Johnson rolled a free-kick to Giannelli Imbula, whose shot struck the inside of the post, bounced off Schmeichel’s back and to the feet of Joe Allen, who stroked the ball into the empty net.
Schmeichel’s return to action after a six-week lay-off was supposed to herald an upturn in Leicester’s fortunes. The Dane had reinforced that theory by making a superb save from a shot by Jonathan Walters in the fifth minute. That was the trigger for tit-for-tat attacking in which Leicester gave as good as they got– until the loss of Vardy.
The England striker would have at least departed as a goalscorer if he had taken the chance given to him in the seventh minute by Marc Albrighton. But the striker hooked his lob wide. Lee Grant then had to make a save from a shot by Slimani, who forced him into another stop in the 23rd minute after nicking the ball off Ryan Shawcross. Two minutes later Grant intervened again, this time foiling Vardy after a cute set-up by Riyad Mahrez. Moments later Vardy jumped into the tackle on Diouf and was ordered off by Pawson. Then Leicester started to unravel.
It seemed that the visitors composed themselves at half-time because they emerged with fresh focus. But balancing the scores would be tougher. Schmeichel had to make a fine save to prevent Stoke from going three up, tipping over a header by Jonathan Walters.
Ranieri’s next significant intervention was to make a double substitution in the 72nd minute and the new arrivals combined to revive hope for the champions. Demarai Gray delivered a cross from the right and Leonardo Ulloa sent a powerful header past Lee Grant. Ryan Shawcross thought he had cleared it off the line, but technology determined otherwise. Pawson, no doubt grateful for the help, awarded the goal.
Two minutes from time, Leicester’s turnaround was complete as Christian Fuchs swung a ball into the box and Daniel Amartey powered a header into the net from eight yards. It felt like justice to Leicester.
