Stoke vs Leicester match report: Foxes may face action after Jamie Vardy sent-off during incredible comeback

Stoke City 2 Leicester City 2: After Vardy's dismissal and Stoke's first-half goals, the champions rallied to salvage a draw

Amartey headed home to snatch an unlikely point for 10-man Leicester (Brandon Griffiths)

Leicester City, their supporters and Claudio Ranieri, could all face FA action after a controversial and ill-tempered 2-2 draw at Stoke which saw Jamie Vardy shown a red card.

Referee Craig Pawson, widely criticised in midweek for failing to show a red to Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo for a two-footed challenge at Crystal Palace, made no similar error at Stoke, dismissing Vardy for a 28th minute foul on Mame Diouf.

And, in the final seven minutes of a tempestuous first half, the home side scored twice while Leicester lost their composure and received five yellow cards from Pawson.

On the half-time whistle, players and Ranieri remonstrated with Pawson as he waited to leave the field with his security detail and, as he passed Leicester supporters, the officials appeared to be hit by coins and other objects thrown by visiting supporters.

“I don’t know, I don’t want to speak about this, every match is different,” said Ranieri when asked about Pawson’s performance after failing to dismiss Rojo.

“Every decision could be different. We must respect the referee every time.

“I said nothing to him at half-time. I just wanted to show to our fans, to my players that I was there. There was nothing wrong.

“I just said to our fans, ‘keep going, stay with us, we need your support.’”

Vardy was dismissed for a two-footed tackle just before the half-hour mark (Getty)

For their total of six bookings, in addition to Vardy’s red, Leicester can expect an automatic FA fine, triggered when a team collects six or more cautions, but Pawson’s report will be studied closely by the authorities this week before deciding whether further action is warranted.

Ranieri also appeared to point provocatively at his own supporters and the referee as he went down the tunnel although the Italian insisted there was no sinister motive.

“No, I was pointing to the pitch,” he said. “I was saying, ‘come on, it’s important, support us on the pitch.’”

Ranieri also claimed no knowledge of objects being thrown at Pawson by his supporters. “I have not seen them, I didn’t see them,” he said. “Of course, I would be disappointed (if they did).”

Former referee Howard Webb, commenting on television, added to the controversy swirling around the game by suggesting Pawson should have been stood down from duty following that highly-publicised incident involving Rojo at Crystal Palace.

“They get judged quite closely by these evaluations afterwards,” said Webb. “Craig Pawson had a difficult game on Wednesday night and he’s got a game today.

Bojan converted from the spot to send the Potters in front (Getty)

“OK, this game had already been appointed. He’s been given, on New Year’s Eve, Liverpool against Manchester City. I don’t think he should be on that game, no, not after the performance he gave on Wednesday night.

“We’re accountable, we make mistakes, we affect the results of games and we pay the price.”

As for Vardy’s sending off, Ranieri pleaded his player’s case and claimed that a challenge with Glen Johnson, immediately leading to his foul on Diouf, was a contributory factor.

“Look, it you listen to me, I say no. If you listen to Mark Hughes, he says yes,” said Ranieri. “But the decision is the referee’s, then it is a red card.

“Maybe, for me, there was a big challenge between Johnson and Vardy. Johnson pushed Vardy, Vardy wanted to get the ball and he touched the ball. Maybe it was a yellow.”

Allen returned to scoring form by tapping in from close range (Getty)

However, that was a version of events with which Stoke manager Mark Hughes found little grounds for agreement.

“People are trying to say he (Vardy) was pushed and that was the reason he jumped in two feet off the ground,” said Stoke manager Mark Hughes.

“I’ve seen the incident and it looked to me like he had two straight legs, he was off the ground and out of control. I can understand, there have been a couple of incidents where players have done similar and got away with a yellow card. They were deemed to be wrong, so this time the referee got it right.”

Substitute Ulloa scored within two minutes of entering the fray (Reuters)

Away from the controversy, Danny Simpson’s handball allowed Bojan to convert the penalty before Joe Allen added a second in first-half injury-time.

But, in an amazing comeback, substitutes Demarai Gray and Leonardo Ulloa combined for an opening goal with their first touches and Daniel Amartey headed in an 88th minute equaliser.

“The match changed after the sending off,” said Ranieri. “Then my players were so nervous and after the penalty we lost our calm, our shape, everything.

“But in the dressing room we started to think what was best for the match and they showed a very fantastic performance. I talked about staying calm. Now we have so many yellow cards, don’t make an unnecessary foul, stay calm, try to play football, maintain our shape because we can come back like last season.”

Teams

Stoke City (3-4-2-1): Grant; Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi; Diouf, Whelan (Sobhi 90+2), Imbula, Pieters; Allen, Bojan (Adam 83); Walters.

Subs not used: Given, Bony, Shaqiri, Crouch, Ngoy.

Leicester City (4-4-2): Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs; Mahrez (Musa 80), King, Amartey, Albrighton (Gray 72); Vardy, Slimani (Ulloa 72).

Subs not used: Zieler, Chilwell, Okazaki, Mendy.

Referee: C Pawson

Attendance: 27,663.