Puel: Stoke Draw A Fair Result

- Leicester City drew 1-1 with Stoke City at King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon
- The Foxes went behind to a Xherdan Shaqiri goal in the first half and equalised through a Jack Butland own goal
- Claude Puel’s men move up to seventh with Burnley and Everton still to play
- The manager said that despite some good late chances, a draw was a fair result

The Foxes controlled possession in the first half but went behind to a goal on the counter attack from Xherdan Shaqiri, who found the bottom corner from the edge of the box just a minute before half time.

City’s breakthrough came with 20 minutes to go, when Marc Albrighton’s cross went into the net courtesy of a deflection off Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland, but despite a host of chances – including one for Riyad Mahrez in the dying moments.

Stoke also created opportunities on the counter, but the teams had to settle for a point each at full time – one that moved City temporarily up to seventh in the table.

Puel reflected at full time: “I think at the end perhaps the draw is a fair result. We could have won the game at the end but we could have lost it as well after a good counter attack.

“We started very well in the game, in the first minute with good intensity. We forced a lot of corners and put in a lot of crosses and created some good situations. We put them under pressure but after that we were maybe were too slow to play, from throw-ins and free kicks, and we lost our intensity.

“It was good thing for them as they tried to win time, but it was important for us to increase the tempo. It was not enough. Our presence was not enough also in the opposition box with all the corners and crosses in the first half.”

The manager was more satisfied with aspects of the performance after the break, which could well have seen his team claim all three points but for some excellent goalkeeping.

He added: “In the second half we came back with a good reaction in the last 30 minutes. Perhaps we deserved to score more and sometimes we were unlucky, and sometimes lacked that clinical edge.

“Congratulations to the opposition goalkeeper and for his team because they defended very well and we conceded some chances on the counter attack also because we tried until the end of the game to find the solution, to push for the winner.

“We conceded some counter attacks and lost the ball also, but at the end I was okay, and I was happy with the reaction of the players because they tried to push until the end without success. Of course a draw at home after the draw against Swansea was not enough for us.”