Leicester City secured a 2-1 victory over Walsall to advance in the EFL Trophy. Goals from John Lundstram and Will Smallbone overturned an early deficit at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday evening.
Andy Dallas had given the visitors a shock lead in the tenth minute, capitalising after his initial effort struck the post. The Foxes responded ten minutes later. Lundstram rose to meet a cross from William Thomas-Alves and directed a clever header over his own shoulder to level the score.
Will Smallbone then put Leicester ahead for good in the thirty-second minute, finishing with a volley from a deflected cross. The hosts controlled the game from there, enjoying 72 per cent possession and creating 16 shots to Walsall's four.
Match flow
Leicester made eleven changes to their side. The match saw a flurry of early activity, with Admir Bristric caught offside twice and Will Alves having a shot blocked. Ryan Leak's injury in the twenty-ninth minute forced an early Walsall substitution, with Elicha Ahui coming on.
Leicester's Olabade Aluko received the game's only yellow card for a foul in the fifty-sixth minute. Both managers utilised their benches heavily in the second half, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Sammy Braybrooke among those introduced for the Foxes. The result means Walsall are eliminated from the competition.
The win extends Leicester's current winning run to two games across all competitions, following their 4-2 victory at Oxford City last Friday. It provides a boost as they sit tenth in the League One standings with 19 points from 13 games, a record of five wins, four draws and four losses. They are ten points behind leaders Huddersfield. Their recent form of three wins, one draw and one loss in the last five league games includes a 2-2 draw with Stevenage and a 3-0 win over Wigan. Across all competitions, the team has scored 22 goals this season while conceding 19.
Attention now turns to a key league fixture this Saturday. Leicester host seventh-placed Bradford City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday 14 November, a match vital for their promotion ambitions. Emil Riis remains the club's top scorer this season with six goals in nine appearances.
