Reading 0 City 1
They say that the secret of a good team is to play badly but still win. On that premise then, City are supermen! You had to feel for Reading, they had so many shots but only about two of them were actually on target and, on those occasions, Weale dealt with them magnificently. So when Waghorn scored just before half-time, it was against the run of play and just a tad embarrassing. Still three points is three points however you get them.
What concerned me was how many times a Reading player was allowed to keep going and the City players seemed to back off. Perhaps they knew that Reading wouldn’t score if they played all week! It seemed to me that City thought it would be easy and they didn’t have to work very hard, and they could have been taught a harsh lesson. Despite protestations that they don’t take any game lightly, psychologically I think they don’t go the extra mile. Unlike other teams, City rarely seem to see off teams that on paper, at least, pose little threat.
Although no-one had a particularly good game, the weakest link was McGivern. Although he played quite well against Palace he had a shocker in this match and was beaten time after time by the right-winger. Hopefully, Berner will be back for the QPR game.….
Oakley seemed out of sorts and often played the ball to an opponent. The man in front of me said that he was playing out of position on the right, but that is no excuse for making so many bad passes. In fact, the other two midfielders had quiet games and both of them are capable of better things. Fortunately the defence was rock solid and they needed to be, as it was backs to the wall stuff at times.
Pearson showed his ability to affect a game by judicious substitutions and Howard, when he came on, looked more like the player he was last season. Campbell played some neat stuff at times but rarely threatened.
Reading reminded me so much of City two seasons ago, playing well but not getting the rewards. Like us, they apparently have not come from behind to win for several games now.
The Madejski Stadium is a nice ground and the pitch was surprisingly good, considering that Leicester Tigers had played on it only two days previously. For once, the City fans had not taken up their full quota and there was plenty of room. The park & ride scheme works well and, as a bus-pass holder, the bus journey was free!
So definitely not one for the purists but a very welcome three points, especially as we are unlikely to get much out of QPR on Friday. But I could be wrong.
City: Weale; Neilson, Hobbs, Brown, McGivern, Oakley, A King, Wellens, Gallagher, Waghorn, Fryatt. Subs: Logan, Morrison, N'Guessan, Kermorgant, Campbell (60 for Waghorn), Berner (84 for Gallagher), Howard (60 for Fryatt).
Reading: Federici; Mills, Tabb, Matejovsky, McAnuff, Church, Rasiak, Bertrand, Sigurdsson, Pearce, Howard. Subs: Cisse, Gunnarsson, Long (64 for Church), Kebe (64 for Sigurdsson), Karacan, Hamer, Cummings.
Referee: K Hill. Attendance: 16,192.
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation