Riyad Mahrez earns share of the spoils for Leicester against Tottenham

Leicester 1 Tottenham 1

Late goals from Dele Alli and Riyad Mahrez lit up an otherwise largely forgettable 1-1 draw between Leicester and Tottenham, as Claudio Ranieri’s side were denied a small piece of club history.

Chances were few and far between and it looked certain to remain goalless but with nine minutes left substitute Alli, a new signing from MK Dons last season, stooped to head Tottenham in front.

However, Spurs’ lead was extremely short-lived as Leicester went straight up the other end and equalised through Mahrez.

The Foxes, with victories against Sunderland and West Ham already under their belts, had never won their first three games in the top flight and never really looked like achieving the feat.

But neither did Spurs seem likely to win.

Ranieri’s men were typically tenacious, none more so than Jamie Vardy, but lacked quality in the final third — a claim impossible to level at Leicester in their opening two fixtures.

Tottenham were pleasing on the eye but their front four looked like strangers at times.

Inside the final 10 minutes Chadli’s curling cross from the left side of the penalty box evaded Kane but Alli was on hand to head home from inside the six-yard box for his first Premier League goal.

However, straight from the restart Leicester went on the attack and Mahrez curled home a lovely left-foot effort from the right-hand side of the area for his fourth goal of the campaign.

Norwich City 1 Stoke City 1

England goalkeeper Jack Butland produced a man-of-the-match display to earn Stoke a 1-1 draw at Norwich.

The 22-year-old pulled off a string of impressive saves to deny the Canaries during a second-half onslaught.

Stoke had taken an early lead through Mame Diouf, heading in a fine free-kick from debutant Xherdan Shaqiri, only for Norwich captain Russell Martin to level following a drinks break in the sweltering Norfolk temperatures.

After both Cameron Jerome and Wes Hoolahan spurned good chances, Butland produced saves out of the top drawer to thwart Nathan Redmond and then Graham Dorrans twice as Stoke held out for a point.

The Potters had won just once from the last 10 visits to Carrow Road, but went into the match having recovered from 2-0 down to draw at Tottenham last weekend.

Stoke were in front after just nine minutes when Diouf got goalside of marker Alex Tettey to guide a left-wing free-kick from Shaqiri into the far corner with a fine diving header.

Norwich — linked with a transfer move for Stoke winger Jonathan Walters — looked for a quick response but lacked ideas in the final third.

With temperatures rising, referee Mike Dean allowed the players a brief drinks break at 25 minutes.

When play resumed, Norwich, who won at Sunderland last weekend, got themselves level in the 28th minute.

Butland pulled off a brilliant reaction save to deny Martin at point-blank range. However, the ball was not cleared and when Redmond knocked it back into the penalty area, the Norwich skipper this time swept a low shot past the keeper and into the bottom corner for his second goal in as many games.

Crystal Palace 2 Aston Villa 1

Bakary Sako struck a late winner on his debut to stifle debate surrounding another controversial offside decision in Crystal Palace’s 2-1 defeat of Aston Villa.

Sako, who joined from Wolves in the summer, struck three minutes from time, exploiting a defensive mix-up from Villa to give Palace a deserved win.

The visitors had already benefited from defensive indecision when Pape Souare diverted Adama Traore’s cross into his own net to cancel out Scott Dann’s header.

Palace had found the net before Dann’s opener.

The amended law which the Premier League felt compelled to clarify following Liverpool’s defeat of Bournemouth had nothing to do with this week’s decision.

Whether James McArthur was offside when Dwight Gayle shot before the ball ricocheted in off the Scot was the talking point and assistant referee Peter Kirkup and referee Keith Stroud belatedly ruled he was and the effort was chalked off.

Sunderland 1 Swansea 1

Jermain Defoe answered Sunderland's call in their hour of need to hand head coach Dick Advocaat a first Barclays Premier league point of the season.

The 32-year-old striker slid home a trademark 62nd-minute equaliser to cancel out Bafetimbi Gomis’ opener in first-half injury time and deny Swansea victory at the Stadium of Light.

The 1-1 draw was no more than the Black Cats deserved from a much-improved performance, although they might still have emerged empty-handed had it not been for the heroics of goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon as the visitors pushed for the win.

Sunderland as a club had come out fighting, with chairman Ellis Short hitting back at claims that he has not invested in the team heavily enough and in particular at former defender Michael Gray’s withering assessment of their start to the season, while Advocaat pleaded for patience and insisted that things would get better.

The message appeared to get through to the players, who had conceded seven goals in their opening two games and surrendered tamely on both occasions, as they set about their task with an impressive determination.