Royals Keep In Play-Off Hunt With Away Win

27 February 2021
By Hob Nob Anyone?

Reading made it clear from the start they were not going to accept anything other than three points from this tough away fixture. It was fast and furious from the kick-off to the final whistles and the Royals responded with character, resolve and essentially, the quality to overcome a physically superior side. Amidst the chaos the only glimmer of decent football came from Reading with Olise and Ejaria having the courage to keep possession long enough to put together some passes and play some telling passes. Had Joao been at anywhere near his best it would have been a more comfortable victory. The Millers dominated to aerial battle overall, but to a man, Reading more than matched them for a willingness to chase every ball and commit fully to winning every loose ball. Once Morrison's determination had given Reading the lead it was clear United were going to need more than physical strength to save a point. In the end Reading held them at bay for the three points they desperately needed and thoroughly deserved.
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• Match Report: Rotherham 0 Reading 1

Back To Winning Ways At Bristol City

16 February 2021
By Hob Nob Anyone?

A typical Lucas Joao finish and a rare goal from Michael Morrison gave Reading a much needed three points to halt a run of two successive defeats. It was a comfortable win over a really poor Bristol City side bereft of ideas and confidence. Injury to Laurent forced Veljko Paunovic to make a change in midfield but Samedo filled the vacant defensive midfield role extremely well as is indicated by another clean sheet. Yiadom and Richards returned after being rested on Saturday and Esteves was given his chance to play in midfield to increase Reading's attacking potential.
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• Match Report: Bristol City 0 Reading 2

Royals Slip To Second Defeat

13 February 2021
By Hob Nob Anyone?

Reading lost ground in the promotion chase suffering their second home defeat in four days against a very physical Millwall side. After Millwall had failed to intimidate Reading with their typically brutal physical start to the game Reading began to play some good football and took an early lead through a brilliant Samedo opportunist goal. There were flashes of brilliance from Olise, Ejaria and Joao but the vital second goal eluded Reading. Millwall stuck to their game plan, mainly due to the limitations of their squad, and finally got a couple of lucky breaks late in the game and nicked two goals. In short a typical Championship fixture against a side not good enough to go up but not bad enough to go down.
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Great Effort But Unbeaten Run Ends

This evening I strongly suspect we saw Reading lose to a team destined to take one of the automatic promotion places this season. Reading matched Brentford in every department for forty-five minutes with an impressive all round display. There was little to choose between the teams as the score line reflected. Joao converted a penalty and Dasilva scored an outstanding equaliser. The second half was a different story. Reading unable to maintain the effective pressing game of the first half and the pace and power of Brentford up front looked more menacing as the game progressed. Mistakes and poor decision - making began to creep into Reading's play and their passing lost its fluency going forward. Goals from Dasilva and Toney in the last four minutes gave Brentford a deserved win with but a slightly flattering margin of victory.
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• Match Report: Reading 1 Brentford 3

Tough Test For Reading As Brentford Visit

10 February 2021
By Hob Nob Anyone?

Reading face a huge test tonight as they take on Brentford behind closed doors at the Madejski Stadium. The Bees are flying high and looking to go top after an amazing run of 20 league games unbeaten in the Championship. Brentford were 4-1 away winners at Middlesbrough on Saturday - a result that saw them climb into second place and just a single point behind leaders Norwich with a game in hand. That game is hand is of course tonight against Reading and they will be hoping and almost expecting a draw or win that will see them become league leaders.

Brentford are firm favourites for victory given their amazing form - find here on sportsbetting24 However, Reading are also on a good unbeaten league run of seven matches that stretches back to 19 December last year. That defeat was of course the 1-3 reverse at Brentford. Hopefully things will turn out different for the Royals this time with players back from injury compared to our last messing. We will also have the slight advantage of playing at home. A Reading win would close the gap on the top two and keep our own automatic promotion hopes alive.

The Royals have no new injury worries and should be able to put a stronger side than the one than last time when we were missing Swift, Joao, Meite, and Richards. Tonight's game kicks-off at 19:00 but is not being screened on Sky.

Recent Meetings With BRENTFORD

Unbeaten Run Continues At Stoke

06 February 2021
By Hob Nob Anyone?

It is easy to see why Stoke City have now gone ten games without win. They successfully stifled Reading's attacking threat for most of the game but lacked the ability to create many scoring opportunities themselves. Reading certainly struggled to cope with City's effective pressing game and the long ball option was also fruitless against the likes of the towering Soutter, Collins and Batth who won just about everything in the air at the back. Up front Fletcher was winning more than his share of headers too against Morrison and McIntyre. Reading's first and only shot on target came from Ejaria after seventy-nine minutes which reflected the amount of time they spent passing the ball around in their own half especially in the first forty-five minutes.
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• Match Report: Stoke City 0 Reading 0