Reading faced off against Sheffield Wednesday in the Thai Consortium derby, and managed to come away from it with a first league win of the year. Chalobah scored on his home debut, and Pogrebnyak scored only his third goal of the season. Again Reading started quickly, but unlike in other games they eventually managed to get the breakthrough.
Before that, though, a pinpoint cross by McCleary was grabbed by Keiren Westwood before it found its way to Pogrebnyak. Cox also found himself clean through, but put his shot too close to the Wednesday keeper. Reading could have been punished down the other end as Wednesday went close; the ball pulled back across the box was thankfully scuffed into Federici's arms.
Pogrebnyak got his head to an absolutely perfect cross from Kelly - an area of his game that is probably above his competition for the right back spot - and sent the ball crashing into the net. Ten minutes later The Royal's lead was doubled after McCleary broke, ran pretty much the length of the field, and played the ball over to our Chelsea loanee, who hit the same square of net as Pogrebnyak with a nice finish.
Federici, as so often, kept the opponents at bay as he tipped a shot round the post after Obita - who had a fairly poor game - had lost the ball far too close to his own box. From the resulting corner, the ball was nodded back across the six-yard box from the back post, but nobody in yellow could get a touch.
The start of the second half almost saw the game killed, but McCleary was deemed to be offised after a through ball from HRK. Very debatable; looked like Cox had gone too early but Garath seemed to be onside. His perfect finish would've made the game a lot easier had it been allowed to stand.
Another chance came 15 minutes later when Pogrebnyak was felled in the area but Robson-Kanu's atrocious penalty was easily saved. No pace and no placement. It's a shame because, although he hadn't been a stand out, HRK had played rather well but all that was negated. It was really bad.
From there Wednesday came back; Federici again called upon, once in a one-on-one situation where the ball was put wide, and once to make a flying save to his left from a free-kick. However the introduction of Nick Blackman gave Reading something else to shout about; taking on three or four players before managing to get a cross into the box, but Mackie can't convert.
Overall this win makes it two wins, one draw in a week. Even if there are still areas to work on - not being able to score with the man advantage, again - it's been largely positive. In the fifth round, and one of six teams on 34 points. One win could propel us to 11th, and all of a sudden things are looking a lot more comfortable.
Before that, though, a pinpoint cross by McCleary was grabbed by Keiren Westwood before it found its way to Pogrebnyak. Cox also found himself clean through, but put his shot too close to the Wednesday keeper. Reading could have been punished down the other end as Wednesday went close; the ball pulled back across the box was thankfully scuffed into Federici's arms.
Pogrebnyak got his head to an absolutely perfect cross from Kelly - an area of his game that is probably above his competition for the right back spot - and sent the ball crashing into the net. Ten minutes later The Royal's lead was doubled after McCleary broke, ran pretty much the length of the field, and played the ball over to our Chelsea loanee, who hit the same square of net as Pogrebnyak with a nice finish.
Federici, as so often, kept the opponents at bay as he tipped a shot round the post after Obita - who had a fairly poor game - had lost the ball far too close to his own box. From the resulting corner, the ball was nodded back across the six-yard box from the back post, but nobody in yellow could get a touch.
The start of the second half almost saw the game killed, but McCleary was deemed to be offised after a through ball from HRK. Very debatable; looked like Cox had gone too early but Garath seemed to be onside. His perfect finish would've made the game a lot easier had it been allowed to stand.
Another chance came 15 minutes later when Pogrebnyak was felled in the area but Robson-Kanu's atrocious penalty was easily saved. No pace and no placement. It's a shame because, although he hadn't been a stand out, HRK had played rather well but all that was negated. It was really bad.
From there Wednesday came back; Federici again called upon, once in a one-on-one situation where the ball was put wide, and once to make a flying save to his left from a free-kick. However the introduction of Nick Blackman gave Reading something else to shout about; taking on three or four players before managing to get a cross into the box, but Mackie can't convert.
Overall this win makes it two wins, one draw in a week. Even if there are still areas to work on - not being able to score with the man advantage, again - it's been largely positive. In the fifth round, and one of six teams on 34 points. One win could propel us to 11th, and all of a sudden things are looking a lot more comfortable.
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