Reading 3-0 Fulham: A great team performance leaves Berkshire buzzing
Article by Christian FrankFollow e-Reading on Twitter!
If I had any reservations about whether or not Glenn Murray would be able to return to the Championship and pick up where he left off in his 30 goal season, they have disappeared and I can only apologise for that initial caution over the 30 year old, and his recovery from an acl injury. Today Murray played a simply marvellous debut; 2 glorious headed goals from the new frontman set Reading on their way to a 3-0 win over a hapless Fulham team who now find themselves propping up the league.
Reservations about Nick Blackman still remain, but his late finish to secure the 3-0 win was wonderful as he rounded Gabor Kiraly and slotted passed a defender on the line.
The headlines from the game will have been written focusing on the great debut by Murray or the pressure mounting on Felix Magath, when Reading’s performance as a team is what has left Berkshire buzzing this Saturday afternoon.
The Royals took the lead in the 15th minute with a goal which feels very repeatable on Reading’s part: the ball broke to Jordan Obita on the left hand side and he whipped in a glorious cross which Murray met with a powerful header. Considering the attacking prowess of the England under-21 international, Reading fans cannot help but hope more similar crosses will be played this season, with more finishes applied by Murray as he chases goals.
Minutes later came a moment of madness from Fulham’s debutant striker Matt Smith. If Murray had a debut to remember, the dangerous 6 foot 6 signing from Leeds had one to forget, seeing red for a horrific tackle on Hope Akpan which could easily have broken the midfielder’s leg. That Magath defended Smith after the match by pointing to the frustration caused by the striker being blocked off when chasing the long ball forward from Fulham’s kick-off (about 18 minutes before the sending off) is quite simply embarrassing for the club. And embarrassing is a word that many Fulham fans will be using to describe goings-on in south west London at the moment; supporters used that word to describe the managerial merry-go-round last season, and during the match could not help but agree when 3 players dummied a free kick, only to see the 4th player hit a weak effort into the wall.
After half time I saw the fourth official emerge with his board and assumed the worst for Akpan, who had seemed shaken after the dangerous tackle which saw Smith sent off, but instead Fulham made a substitution as Magath looked to utilise the counter-attacking threat which they had posed when Reading looked overly relaxed against the 10 men near the end of the first half. Fulham posed little threat in the second half however, and Akpan was impressive in a more defence-minded role next to Oliver Norwood as the Irishman made his home debut. Akpan provided the pressure on a Fulham midfield which included former England international Scott Parker, while Norwood wowed the fans by spraying passes around the pitch, consistently finding Jake Taylor and Jamie Mackie on the wings from any distance (an impressive 92% pass success rate does not quite explain the Hollywood quality of some of the passes Norwood played).
Taylor and Mackie were exemplary for their workrate, as was the third member of the attacking 3 behind Murray, Simon Cox. A high pressing game is something which all fans appreciate, and Cox, Taylor and Mackie were dangerous as they constantly looked to push onto the shaky Fulham defence which has now conceded 13 goals in just 6 matches.
Workrate was not something which necessarily stood out from the back 5, but as Adam Federici made his 200th start for the club he impressed with his distribution and one fine save, while Michael Hector and Alex Pearce were not really troubled by £11million-man Ross McCormack, looking comfortable throughout the match. As for the full-backs, Reading fans know what to expect from Obita and Gunter, and it was great to see the two of them playing at their best, bombing forwards and contributing width to the dangerous Royals attacks.
We could get ahead of ourselves after a 3-0 win, but this defeat does send Fulham bottom of the table and they are in disarray at this time – the Fulham fans’ chants of ‘Felix out!’ are not unprovoked – but a win of such a calm, assured nature against 10 men has been something lacking from the Royals under Adkins, and this win has quite rightly created an air of optimism around the club. Adkins can have no excuses left if his team does not perform now, as he finally sees a team take shape which really can be labelled ‘his team’.
With Glenn Murray and Oliver Norwood stunning in their first appearances at the Madejski Stadium, a 3rd successive clean sheet, injured players all getting nearer to fitness, and the Thai takeover nearing completion, these really are exciting times for Reading.
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