Stoke City 2-2 Leicester City
Stoke: Krkic 39’ (pen), Allen 45+3’; Leicester: Ulloa 74’, Amartey 88’; Red: Vardy (LEI) 28’
Man of the Match: Joe Allen (Stoke)
Leicester have spent this season illustrating that lightning does not strike twice. Just when fallen champions seemed at their lowest ebb, it did, briefly but brilliantly.
They came from 2-0 down to salvage a surprise point at Stoke last season. They did so in still more improbable fashion on Saturday. Their unofficial slogan a few months ago, “Foxes Never Quit”, seemed applicable again.
Depleted and seemingly defeated, a side who had seemed to think the world was conspiring against them produced a show of the spirit that underpinned the most unlikely of title wins. Claudio Ranieri showed his Midas touch has not deserted him.
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With Stoke cruising to victory, Ranieri made a double change. Within two minutes, one substitute, Demarai Gray, crossed for another, Leonardo Ulloa, to halve the deficit with a forceful header. With two minutes to go, Christian Fuchs, one of those who ended the first half in fury, curled in a cross, Daniel Amartey rose highest and Leicester were level. “Amazing,” said Ranieri. He was serenaded off the pitch, the architect of the unlikely once more.
The mood swing was extreme. An hour earlier, Ranieri had delayed his march to the tunnel to confront, and seemingly harangue, referee Craig Pawson. The Italian is the antidote to the serial moaners and the one-eyed paranoid that abound in his profession, the manager who treats officials with humanity.
It was a telling sight, a byword for calm and charm looking exasperated. “I was angry,” he said. His side had collected five bookings in nine minutes. They were losing the game. They had lost their heads and Jamie Vardy.
An emblem of Leicester’s rise became a symbol of struggles. Vardy’s last 19 Leicester outings have produced 18 blanks, the latest curtailed by a sending off. The striker’s week included a maiden Premier League hat-trick, eighth place in the Ballon d’Or voting, an ineffective outing in defeat at Bournemouth and an early, ignominious exit.
A lunge at Mame Biram Diouf brought his expulsion. Pawson ought to have dismissed Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo for a disgraceful, two-footed assault on Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha on Wednesday. Criticised for leniency then, he located his red card three days later for a similar, if less dangerous, tackle.
Leicester will consider appealing the dismissal. “He wants to challenge and get the ball, not make a foul,” said Ranieri, arguing Glen Johnson had fouled Vardy first. “I don’t know if he touched the player.” Stoke manager Mark Hughes countered: “I don’t know why they are complaining about it. It was a two-footed challenge.”
Leicester were aggrieved again when Bojan Krkic’s cross was blocked by the sliding Danny Simpson, whose arm was raised above his head. The Spain international scored the resulting penalty. Then Giannelli Imbula’s low drive struck the post, hit Kasper Schmeichel on the back and left Joe Allen with a tap-in. Eventually, however, the fit-again keeper’s saves from Jonathan Walters, twice, and Allen proved crucial as Ranieri restored focus, enabling Leicester to spring a comeback.
In the broader scheme of things, the statistics are still unflattering. Leicester have now gone 252 days without an away win in England. They have now dropped more points, 34, this season than they did in the whole of last.
Top last Christmas, they are 15th now. Yet a seemingly depressing affair became strangely heartening. Ranieri concluded: “It could be a turning point.”
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