Leicester City players celebrate their equaliser against West BromImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Leicester's draw at West Brom was their third in succession

A 93rd-minute own goal from Nat Phillips gifted Leicester City a dramatic draw with West Bromwich Albion in the Championship.

A superb solo goal from Samuel Iling-Junior early on appeared to have been enough to earn Albion their first win against the Foxes at The Hawthorns for 15 years.

Leicester had passed, pressed and probed in search of a response, but their control of possession and tempo of the game lacked a cutting edge.

An early second-half header from Jannik Vestergaard was their only effort to press Josh Griffiths into action before the stoppage-time equaliser.

Phillips' inadvertent own goal - which Bobby De Cordova-Reid created with an acrobatic volley for the Foxes - was made all the more painful for the hosts after they missed a chance to make it 2-0 moments earlier.

After visiting keeper Jakub Stolarczyk had pushed out a Jed Wallace free-kick, striker Josh Maja wastefully blasted the rebound over from a few yards.

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes stuck with the same team held to a goalless draw by Coventry City a week earlier, while West Brom head coach Ryan Mason made three changes following their defeat at leaders Middlesbrough.

On-loan Southampton defender Charlie Taylor started on his debut for the hosts, while Aston Villa loanee Iling-Junior was also brought into the XI for the first time.

And the former Juventus winger wasted no time in marking the occasion in style.

Meeting a deft flicked pass from Aune Heggebo, Iling-Junior outran Boubakary Soumare and skipped around Belgian defender Wout Faes before prodding his finish past Stolarczyk.

The 10th-minute opener had come against the early run of play, with Jordan Ayew dragging a shot just wide inside three minutes.

And after Iling-Junior broke the deadlock, Jordan James had an effort deflected over the bar and Harry Winks hit a volley wide as the Foxes searched for a first-half equaliser.

West Brom continued to soak up pressure after the break and Leicester's quick passing and fluid football created few serious threats.

Vestergaard was presented with the best of them, but he could only send his close-range header into the arms of Griffiths.

The Baggies went on to create numerous chances, with George Campbell lashing a chance into the side netting and Isaac Price hitting a tame effort straight at Stolarczyk before Maja had a volley defected wide.

Substitute Maja then went on to squander his huge chance in the 90th minute, while Toby Collyer curled an effort just wide.

But in added time, a deep cross from Abdul Fatawu was met by substitute De Cordova-Reid, whose flying volley was turned in to his own net by Phillips.

West Brom's Samuel Iling-Junior celebrates his goal against Leicester CityImage source, Rex Features
Image caption,

Samuel Iling-Junior marked his first West Brom start with a superb solo goal

'We were made to pay' - reaction

West Brom boss Ryan Mason told BBC WM:

"It's disappointing, we deserved to win the game. We did more than enough to win the game, so we are hurting.

"The performance deserved so much more. The lads played incredibly well.

"It's clear we created enough chances to win the game, and 1-0 is a dangerous scoreline.

"I can't fault the lads' effort, I can't fault the lads' quality. We had so much personality and I thought we played an extremely good game against a really good side, and we were the better team and should have won the game.

"It's something we have to improve on if we want to be successful in this league. Of course you need to take those opportunities, you need to kill the game off, and we were made to pay for it."

Media caption,

Mason: 'You need to take those opportunities'

Leicester City head coach Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester:

"It's mixed feelings. We had good control, good dominance in the first half - and it was a very good first half, but unfortunately we went down.

"Definitely we could have been more clinical in the last third to create clear chances, but I thought the team did a lot of good things.

"In the second half, of course the closer you get to the end the more emotional you become and a it gets a little bit more uncontrolled, but I think at the end we got what we deserved.

"The things I value a lot - the personality, the effort those guys are showing in every game - shows that this thing of 'Foxes never quit' is there, and we need to maintain that. But at the same time, we hope for even more quality in the last third to create more chances.

"We need to make sure that we are better than just chasing a draw in the last minute."

Media caption,

Post Match: West Bromwich Albion 1-1 Leicester City

Player of the match

Number: 22 S. Iling-Junior
Average rating 6.55
Number: 22 S. Iling-Junior
Average Rating: 6.55
Number: 19 A. Heggebø
Average Rating: 5.46
Number: 21 I. Price
Average Rating: 5.45
Number: 11 M. Johnston
Average Rating: 5.37
Number: 2 C. Mepham
Average Rating: 5.13
Number: 27 A. Mowatt
Average Rating: 5.13
Number: 29 C. Taylor
Average Rating: 5.11
Number: 6 G. Campbell
Average Rating: 5.06
Number: 8 J. Molumby
Average Rating: 5.06
Number: 20 J. Griffiths
Average Rating: 5.02
Number: 3 N. Phillips
Average Rating: 4.95
Number: 7 J. Wallace
Average Rating: 4.49
Number: 9 J. Maja
Average Rating: 4.31
Number: 4 C. Styles
Average Rating: 4.30
Number: 13 T. Collyer
Average Rating: 4.15

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

Related topics