Walsall 0 (0), Leicester 0 (3), positives and negatives, player ratings and match report, Carabao Cup fixture
Yesterday at 05:58 PM
Leicester are through to the 4th round of the Carabao Cup after a fantastic performance from Danny Ward, saving all three Walsall penalties in the shoot, but also making a vital save earlier in the game, that in real made a solid difference.
Leicester had a massive possession, but little or no penetration what so ever, Walsall defending themselves in the best way possible and also giving Leicester a bit of trouble on their counterattacks.
Steve Cooper had given a rest to a number of the steady first team players such as Mavididi, Winks, Justin, Hermansen, Kristiansen, Vardy and Ndidi, and also surprisingly again overlooking Jannik Vestergaard in his selection as this becomes a heavy mystery finding Caleb Okoli on the pitch today alongside Conor Coady.
Leicester had a few attempts in the first half, coming close with a couple of headers, but it was not a performance to be proud off, as it looked very soft, not really setting Walsall goalkeeper Tommy Simkin on special allert.
Coming out 2nd half the same routine again, not really having the ability to find solutions and pockets to play in to get that first goal. Walsall had their attempts but today Danny Ward had no desire to let any balls pass him, he showed his best today, of course good to see, as he is highly rated as the number one goalkeeper for Wales, but among Leicester fans being judged on the errors he did during the first half of a season that ended in a terrible relegation.
The game went to penalty shoot outs, but with a little more sharpness from Abdul Fatawu, we would probably have seen Leicester in the lead just minutes before the final whistle. Edson Edouard get the chance to start up front, but had a difficult day at the office, not really having any connection with no one during his time on the field.
Oliver Skipp, Conor Coady and Ricardo Pereira converted from the penalty spot, and when Danny Ward saved all Walsall attempts, we could see Leicester through to the next round.
Always a boost for confidence to go through, but this time it was not one performance to brag about, it was terrible at times, sorry but at this point we do believe that even with a number of players not in the regular first eleven, this game should have been put to bed at a much earlier stage, again good to be through.
- Positives
- Scoring three goals in the penalty shoot out
- Danny Ward showing his worth, he had a splended day and was of course man of the match
- Negatives
- Little or no penetration
- Took time to build some type of momentum with this selection
- Not creating enough, it was a dull game and Leicester should have been more brave
- Again changes being made a bit too late
- No space for Jannik Vestergaard, not even on the bench
Player Ratings: Ward 9, Pereira 6, Thomas 5, Okoli 6, Coady 6, Choudhury 5, Soumare 5, De Cordova-Reid 5, Edouard 5, Fatawu 6, Bounanotte 7, Subs: El Khannouss, Ayew, Skipp, McAteer
- Leicester City, Man of the Match
- Danny Ward
Match Stats (H/A)
- Possession: 26 / 74
- Shots on Target: 1 / 2
- Corners: 6 / 2
- Fouls: 12 / 6
