Match Report- Reading 0-0 Middlesbrough‏

Article by Charlie Firth

I'm not sure I’ve ever labelled a game ‘a tale of two halves’ that’s never had a goal in it before, but this was a tail of two halves. Fourth place Middlesbrough came to Reading looking for revenge after losing 1-0 earlier on this season. Perhaps after thoroughly dominant first half, Middlesbrough were fearing a repeat of events, but Reading failed to net this time round.

The first of few shocks over the afternoon was the inclusion of Pavel Pogrebnyak in the starting eleven. The Russian made his first appearance since November 8th, where he was substituted on. Even on a good day Pogrebnyak isn’t great, but not at full fitness , he is atrocious- as he proved today. I’m not gonna go into it too much, but he really was poor and proved that we really should be focusing on signing a striker this January. This was highlighted by a fan a few rows down from me dancing when he came off.

Middlesbrough really should’ve been at least two up by the break. This wasn’t necessarily down to Federici as in the second period, but some brilliant last gasp defending and some dreadful individual errors. This was highlighted by a horrible, horrible miss from Adam Reach. Albert Adomah’s cut back to Reach left the goal gaping. Literally it was an OPEN GOAL. It was blamed high, high over the bar. I haven’t seen a miss like it.

Albert Adomah caused Obita all kinds of trouble on the Middlesbrough right with his pace and tricky feet, and Partrick Bamford worried me because he was quite quick, and Hector and Pearce aren’t. But we managed to hold on, and in the second half it was like watching a different game.

Reading held more possession, making chances but not finishing them. Although Middlesbrough had some great chances. There were two instances where they had some sort of an effort at goal, and Adam Federici just happened to be in the way without moving.

However much better the second half was, it was also thoroughly frustrating. There were too many situations where Reading won the ball and had a player or two running into a space where, if they were passed the ball, they would have been clean through. I remember Simon Cox had one of these opportunities, but took too long in deciding who to put through, Hal Robson-Kanu or Blackman, and was eventually tacked, and lost the ball.

As the half went on, so did Middlesbrough get back into the game. Federici was stunning. Simply stunning. Patrick Bamford struck a fantastic effort from miles out and Feders dived towards it and it palmed it on to the upright. The entire stand all turned to each other in shock. Then, after a made scramble in the box, centre back Daniel Ayala turned it towards goal. Federici was equal to it again.

Obviously a massive shout of to Jem Karacan, who returned today after 16 months out injured. The cheer he got after his name got called out over the tannoy before match was super, and the fans were brilliant. There were cheers for him warming up, coming on and his first touch. Not small cheers either, stadium sized cheers. Great respect from the fans, and he did look like a captain as he was very vocal on the pitch. Welcome back, Skip.

Gunter, Williams, Pearce and (when he came on) Danny Guthrie were all brilliant. The captain swap between Gunts and Pearcey was none other than genius from Clarkey. Though it took him a while to get going, eventually Williams was brilliant. His first touch is just incredible and he loves a good run at a defender, which is what I like to see from a player. Guthrie’s set pieces weren’t the best, but he passed nicely, dribbled very well, and generally was a good playmaker in that midfield. I believe our central midfield (in terms of depth and quality of depth) is the best in the league. We’ll get going.

Player Ratings:

Federici: 10- What a hero.
Gunter: 8- Very, very good once again. His pace helps us out no end.
Pearce: 7- Very solid again, not a single significant mistake, really.
Hector: 5- A tad wobbly today, made some terrible long passes.
Obita: 5- Struggled at the beginning, but got a bit better as the game went on.
Mackie: 4- Very, very quiet today.
Williams: 7- Another good performance from Williams today, he seems to have hit top gear again.
Norwood: 4- Really poor for Norwood tonight, we’ll hope it’s a blip
Robson-Kanu: 3- Not a good day for the Welshman.
Pogrebnyak: 2- I appreciate the effort but this wasn’t a good performance at all for the BFR.
Cox: 6- Great effort and determination, don’t remember him having a shot. Certainly not his best game in a Royals shirt.

© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football