Leicester City beat Walsall 2-1 to reach EFL Trophy last 32

Leicester City came from a goal down to beat Walsall 2-1 at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday 10 November, booking a place in the last 32 of the EFL Trophy.

It was the final game of Southern Group B. Walsall, of League Two, would have gone through in place of League One side Leicester with a win.

The visitors led after 10 minutes. Andy Dallas hit the post, then put the rebound in. Leicester levelled on 20 minutes: Will Alves picked out John Lundstram from a corner and he scored with an overhead kick into the top corner. Will Smallbone put the Foxes ahead on 32 minutes, firing past Walsall goalkeeper Tom Wooster.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid had Leicester’s best late chance, but Wooster saved from close range on 86 minutes.

Leicester had 72% of possession, four shots on target to Walsall’s one, and 10 corners to two. Warren O’Hora was named man of the match.

Manager Russell Martin picked a strong side despite several players being away on international duty: John Souttar (Australia), Louis Page (England Under-19s), Liam Cullen (Wales), Harry Howell (England Under-19s) and Ilari Kangasniemi (Finland Under-21s). Dai Cornell made his debut in goal, and Conor Chaplin captained the team. The crowd was small, with many empty seats.

The last 32 will be drawn on a regional basis. In the following round, group winners are seeded and runners-up are not.