EFL Trophy: Walsall 1-1 Reading (win 4-2 on penalties) - match report

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. 

Sam Hornby was forced into his first save during an eventful opening 15 minutes when he reacted swiftly to beat Jayden Wareham's thumping near post header behind. 

Johnson squandered another great opportunity to open the scoring when he lifted his finish over from close-range. 

Hall stole the ball midway inside Reading's half and helped it on to Adomah after a determined run. Adomah unselfishly squared for Johnson but he was unable to apply the finishing touches.

The chances kept coming for Walsall. Hall pickpocketed Louie Holzman and squared for Jack Earing but Reading managed to get bodies behind the ball to keep them out. 

Reading were reduced to 10-men when goalkeeper David Button was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on Hall outside his box. Evan Weir came close from the resulting free-kick when he drove a low effort wide of the near post. 

Sadler introduced Liam Gordon and Nathan Lowe on the hour as they looked to capitalise on their numerical advantage. However, Reading almost caught Walsall cold when Sackey broke in behind and dragged wide from close-range.

Adomah stung the palms of Reading's stand in goalkeeper Tom Norcott before drilling a low effort wide of the near post from distance. 

Reading took the lead against the run of play 18 minutes from time when Sackey pounced on a mistake from Hornby to score. Hornby was unable to deal with a long ball into the box and spilled the ball into the danger area as Sackey fired into the net.

The visitors were down to nine men for the final 15 minutes when Ashqar Ahmed was shown a second yellow card for a cynical challenge on Lowe. 

Walsall continued to press for an equaliser as Connor Barrett and Reyes Cleary were unleashed into the action with the latter flashing a half volley over from the edge of the box.

In the latter stages, Oisin McEntee was thwarted by Norcott from close-range and Lowe poked a low finish wide of the near post. 

It felt as if a leveller may never arrive but Johnson equalised with the final kick of the game to force penalties. Reyes Cleary raced down the left and his cross eventually found Johnson to fire into the far top corner on the half volley.

Adomah, Johnson and Daniels scored for Walsall while Hornby denied both Wareham and Wellens from the spot before Cleary converted the decider. 

Next, Walsall welcome 13th-place Barrow to Bescot on Saturday as they look to strengthen their grip on top spot in League Two.

Teams 

Walsall (3-1-4-2): Hornby; McEntee, Daniels, Allen (Gordon 60); Earing; Browne (Barrett 77), Hall (Lowe 60), Lakin (Cleary 78), Weir; Johnson, Adomah.

Subs: Simkin, Okagbue, Thomas.

Reading (4-3-3): Button; Ahmed, Dean, Holzman, Garcia (Kanu 81); Sackey, Craig (Senga 57), Savage (Wellens 46); Camara, Wareham, Osho. 

Unused: Norcott, Stickland, Okine-Peters, Barough. 

Referee: Elliot Bell 

Attendance: 1,501 (238 away)