Butland bounces back from blunder to deny Foxes
JACK BUTLAND’S blunder cost Stoke victory but his manager, Paul Lambert, refused to blame him.
With Stoke leading with 20 minutes to go, the England goalkeeper let Marc Albrighton’s cross slip through his grasp and into the net.
But anyone thinking Butland’s error would affect him got their answer eight minutes later. The 24-year-old keeper produced outstanding saves to deny the Foxes a winner.
First he flung himself full length to his right to tip away Riyad Mahrez’s shot, then he diverted Harry Maguire’s shot on to a post and smothered Mahrez’s shot when the winger was clean through.
Lambert said: ‘Butland is the best goalkeeper in Britain, without a shadow of a doubt.
‘There’s no blame whatsoever. He will make mistakes like any other footballer. But more importantly he’s a top-class keeper and a top-class guy.’
The draw left Stoke second from bottom of the Premier League and one point from safety. It was the third draw in five games under Lambert, with only one win, but the Scot is convinced his team can stay up.
‘We need a break, but if we keep playing the way we are, we will certainly climb the table,’ said Lambert.
Stoke have certainly got a chance as long as Xherdan Shaqiri stays in this form.
The Switzerland international scored for the third successive game, curling a low shot beyond Kasper Schmeichel for his seventh goal of the season.
The game’s outstanding player then went close with a 45-yard shot, which skidded just wide.
Although Leicester dominated possession until Shaqiri struck, Stoke’s resolute defending looked like seeing them to only their second away win of the season. Their bold approach ensured a grandstand finish, which could easily have gone against them when Leicester’s Matty James heading against a post.
Leicester boss Claude Puel conceded his side did not do enough to win as they made it four Premier League games without a victory.
‘Perhaps the draw was a fair result because we could have won but we could have lost also,’ said Puel.
‘We started very well, with a good intensity and tempo.
‘After, it was too slow. It was a good thing for the opponents because they tried to win. We were up against a fantastic goalkeeper we were sometimes unlucky.’
After a week of more tabloid stories about his private life, Saido Berahino was left out of the Stoke squad and how far the striker’s stock has fallen was shown when 18-year-old Tyrese Campbell came on for his first-team debut in the second half.
Lambert insisted: ‘It’s for football reasons only. There are only so many times that you can ignore someone [Campbell] who has managed to score 17 goals [for the Under-23 side] this season.’