Walsall's remarkable journey in the EFL Cup ended in agonising fashion as they were beaten 3-0 on penalties by Leicester City at Bescot. The Saddlers held the Premier League outfit to a goalless draw in normal time and had two golden chances in either half when Charlie Lakin was denied from close-range and Albert Adomah dragged wide. Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward denied Taylor Allen, David Okagbue and Liam Gordon from the spot, as Ricardo Pereira, Conor Coady and Oliver Skipp converted to guide the visitors into the next round.
Walsall started brightly and Lakin had a golden chance to score in back-to-back games when he was denied from point-blank range by Danny Ward. Connor Barrett darted down the right after linking effectively with Ronan Maher and found Nathan Lowe peeling away from his marker. He found Lakin unmarked with a low cutback but Ward plunged to his right to deny him from close quarters.
Leicester dominated possession but Walsall were disciplined in their shape to restrict them to very little in the first half. The closest the visitors came was through Facundo Buonanotte but the Argentinian was unable to get enough purchase on his header from Abdul Fatawu's floated cross. Lakin had another presentable opportunity on the half-hour mark after Harry Williams' long throw was flicked on towards the back post but the Walsall midfielder was unable to direct the ball on target from an acute angle.
Harry Williams was at the heart of a strong defensive performance in th.