Match Report
Reading
No goals
Swansea
A Mawson (52)
J Ayew (83)
Swansea progressed to the last sixteen of the Caraboa Cup with a comfortable victory over a Reading side with insufficient fire power to mount any kind of sustained pressure on their Premier League opponents defence. After a goalless first half Swansea took the lead early in the second half when Mawson was allowed sufficient space to flick home a Sanches corner at the near post. Swansea looked in control from that point and secured their victory courtesy of a refereeing blunder from Andy Davies. Davies’ poor positioning resulted in him deflecting an Evans pass to Fer on the half way line. With the Reading defence pushing forward Fer slid the ball to Ayew who ran through to curl the ball past Jaakkola. Reading had looked unlikely to find and equaliser and the second goal put the result beyond doubt.
Beerens and Popa were given the daunting task of penetrating a very experienced and disciplined back four and they certainly did not shirk from the task. Popa’s pace troubled the City defence and he did make space for a strike on the edge of the box with a sharp turn but his effort was high and wide. Beerens came slightly closer with a superb strike from inside the box but his shot flew just over the bar. When Reading did manage to get behind the City defence there was no-one in the right place to take advantage of balls played into the danger area so Nordfeldt was rarely tested.
The only strike on target of note came after good work by Gunter on the right who produced a ball into the box which resulted in a shooting opportunity for Swift but his attempt had insufficient power to trouble the City ‘keeper. Gradually City began to look menacing on the break and twice seemed to have broken through but were pulled back for fouls on Moore and Obita. Narsingh outpaced Obita after twenty-seven minutes and should have given City the lead but Jaakkola saved with his legs. After a goalless half there was a minor scuffle as the teams left the pitch which was the culmination of some ill-tempered exchanges near the corner flag in stoppage time.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first with Reading unable to get at the City defence. Seven minute into the half Mawson was allowed to meet a corner unchallenged and deflect the ball past Jaakkola to give the visitors the lead and the already subdued home crown sensed the game was up. Substitutions livened up Reading’s attack with Kelly and Blackett making their presence felt but when Kelly fizzed a ball across the six yard box there was no-one on hand to apply the finish. Swift and Clement showed one or two nice touches but overall they were disappointing. Evans worked hard and Bacuna promised to provide the creative spark required to but City effectively kept him quiet.
In the end Reading were beaten by a better team leaving Jaap Stam to continue with his struggle to find a way of breaking down opposing defences. Dominating possession does not in itself win matches. There was lots of effort from Reading this evening and there were some good individual performances but on the whole it was a pretty dull affair.
John Wells
Beerens and Popa were given the daunting task of penetrating a very experienced and disciplined back four and they certainly did not shirk from the task. Popa’s pace troubled the City defence and he did make space for a strike on the edge of the box with a sharp turn but his effort was high and wide. Beerens came slightly closer with a superb strike from inside the box but his shot flew just over the bar. When Reading did manage to get behind the City defence there was no-one in the right place to take advantage of balls played into the danger area so Nordfeldt was rarely tested.
The only strike on target of note came after good work by Gunter on the right who produced a ball into the box which resulted in a shooting opportunity for Swift but his attempt had insufficient power to trouble the City ‘keeper. Gradually City began to look menacing on the break and twice seemed to have broken through but were pulled back for fouls on Moore and Obita. Narsingh outpaced Obita after twenty-seven minutes and should have given City the lead but Jaakkola saved with his legs. After a goalless half there was a minor scuffle as the teams left the pitch which was the culmination of some ill-tempered exchanges near the corner flag in stoppage time.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first with Reading unable to get at the City defence. Seven minute into the half Mawson was allowed to meet a corner unchallenged and deflect the ball past Jaakkola to give the visitors the lead and the already subdued home crown sensed the game was up. Substitutions livened up Reading’s attack with Kelly and Blackett making their presence felt but when Kelly fizzed a ball across the six yard box there was no-one on hand to apply the finish. Swift and Clement showed one or two nice touches but overall they were disappointing. Evans worked hard and Bacuna promised to provide the creative spark required to but City effectively kept him quiet.
In the end Reading were beaten by a better team leaving Jaap Stam to continue with his struggle to find a way of breaking down opposing defences. Dominating possession does not in itself win matches. There was lots of effort from Reading this evening and there were some good individual performances but on the whole it was a pretty dull affair.
John Wells