Headmaster VETERAN SUB GETS THE NOD TO TEACH
Stoke...2 Leicester...2
GARETH SOUTHGATE came to see Jamie Vardy, Jack Butland and Harry Maguire – all members of his current England squad.
Plus a talented youngster in Leicester’s Demarai Gray. But it was Three Lions old boy Peter Crouch who stole the show.
The Stoke substitute had been on the field only four minutes when he rescued his side with a point-winning equaliser.
Crouch headed home in the 73rd minute to demonstrate once again that he is still a force and a threat in the Premier League.
Leicester twice led in an entertaining Midlands battle. Vicente Iborra gave the Foxes the lead with his first goal for the club since his £12.5million summer move from Sevilla.
And back-to-form Riyad Mahrez put Leicester back in front in the 60th minute.
But Leicester were twice pegged back – by Xherdan Shaqiri on the first occasion and then Crouch.
So Crouch for England? Stoke boss Mark Hughes said: “Never say never! I played until I was 38. I used to like to get out there on the training pitch and Pete is just like that too.”
Leicester boss Claude Puel, in his second match in charge, admitted to feeling both “happy and frustrated”.
He said: “Our first 25 minutes were not enough but after that we created a lot of chances.
“To do that away from home is a good thing. It was a good game for our future.
“Mahrez was very interesting with and without the ball. He showed good quality.”
It was cold enough for a number of players to wear gloves and as one bet365 regular put it: “It’s nice and cool out there today.”
Freezing would have been a better word and maybe
Butland 6; Zouma
6, Shawcross 6, Wimmer
5; Diouf 6 (Berahino 86th), Fletcher 6, Allen 7, Pieters that contributed to referee Bobby Madley having to substitute himself in the 24th minute with what appeared to be a calf injury.
He was replaced by the fourth official, Jon Moss. Stoke had the first chance to warm up their fans when Ramadan Sobhi sent Maxim Choupo-Moting clear.
But after cutting inside in an attempt to create a better angle for his shot, the Stoke striker failed to get enough power behind his effort and Kasper Schmeichel saved smartly to his left.
Leicester then had a five-minute spell when they scored one and it could have been three.
Iborra lashed Leicester ahead in the 33rd minute with a left-foot drive after a Mahrez corner broke to him.
Stoke stopper Butland, one of the players being assessed by Southgate, then did well to keep out a Shinji Okazaki effort, before Iborra headed over from a good position.
But Stoke equalised in the 39th minute through Shaqiri’s first home goal for seven months.
Choupo-Moting’s nice touch sent Shaqiri clear for a fine left-foot finish.
Leicester, though, were on the front foot from the