EFL Trophy: Walsall 1-1 Reading (win 4-2 on penalties) - match report
Sam Hornby emerged as the hero as Walsall progressed to the EFL Trophy round of 16 with 4-2 shoot-out win after a 1-1 draw against Reading at Bescot.
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Albert Adomah and Danny Johnson missed gilt-edged chances in the opening 20 minutes as a dominant Walsall lacked the clinical touch in front of goal.
Tyler Sackey opened the scoring for Reading against the run of play in the 72nd minute after David Button had been sent off at the other end.
Reading were reduced to nine men late on when Ashqar Ahmed was shown a second yellow card. Johnson sent the tie to penalties with a last-gasp equaliser and Hornby produced a pair of saves to deny Jayden Wareham and Charlie Wellens as Walsall progressed with a 4-2 shoot-out victory.
Mat Sadler's men were looking to progress beyond this stage of the competition for the first time since 2019 and made eight changes from the 1-0 win at Port Vale.
Only Taylor Allen, George Hall and Charlie Lakin retained their place from the weekend while newly-appointed boss Noel Hunt made nine alterations for visitors Reading.
Walsall made a strong start and should've been ahead inside five minutes when Adomah missed a golden opportunity.
Johnson cushioned down a floated ball from Donervon Daniels and Hall released Rico Browne down the right with an instinctive through ball. Browne flashed a dangerous delivery across the box but Adomah inexplicably fluffed his lines with the goal at his mercy.
Browne and Hall combined effectively down the right in the opening exchanges and Johnson looked bright on only his third start of the season. Johnson struck straight at Reading goalkeeper David Button and came close again when he was just unable to reach Adomah's low centre on the stretch.
