What the papers say

[Far Canal]

sportinglife.com stats:

STAT ATTACK
Reading.......Divers
0 Shots On Target 4
5 Shots Off Target 3
16 Fouls (Conceded) 7
8 Corners 5
3 Yellow Cards 2
1 Red Cards 1

[PieEater]

A slightly more accurate set from SSN:

The home side pushed forward in the dying stages and they almost grabbed an equaliser in stoppage time when Nicky Shorey saw his header kicked off the line by Drogba after Cudicini had been clattered by Sonko from the initial corner.

Reading v Chelsea player ratings
Reading Team Name Chelsea
0 Goals 1
0 Shots on target ( Inc Goals ) 4
5 Shots off Target (inc woodwork) 3
0 Blocked Shots 0
8 Corners Won 5
16 Total Fouls Conceded 7
0 Offsides 3
2 Yellow Cards 1
1 Red Cards 1
40% Possession 60%

[royalsteve]

sportinglife.com stats:

STAT ATTACK
Reading.......Divers
0 Shots On Target 4
5 Shots Off Target 3
16 Fouls (Conceded) 7
8 Corners 5
3 Yellow Cards 2
1 Red Cards 1

It was like that for the man u game - 1 shot on target
(er, Doyle and Soel had shots saved and Doyle scored, so for all you f**kwits reporters out there, 1+1+1=3)

as for the chelsea game, surely we had more than 4 shots on/off target

inge header
doyle post
shorey cleared off the line
harper wide
sidwell wide

surely at least 5, I also think Chelsea had more off target and didnt have 5 on target...hann made 2 easy saves from tame shots and their goal makes 3!

[RoyalBlue]

Amazing that a shot cannoning off the inside of the post counts as 'off target' yet you get credited as being 'on target' for what turns out to be little more than a back pass to the opposition keeper!

And why didn't the goal line clearance count as on target?!

[MartinRdg]

All the reports seem to be devoid of match stats, any reason why?

The only ones I could find forget Drogba's clearance off the line, and Doyler hitting the post.

Corners:
Reading 8
Chelsea 5

Goal Attempts:
Reading 5
Chelsea 7

On Target:
Reading 0
Chelsea 4

Excuse me. Right at the end, SHorey headed the ball that Drogba cleared off the line. How was this not on target?

[PieEater]

For those that don't read the match reports:

Chelsea ended Reading's 14 month long unbeaten league run at the Madejski Stadium - but were extremely fortunate to do so after a free-kick was deflected into the back of the Reading net by Ingimarsson just before the half time break. Chelsea defended well, but it was a classic smash and grab away victory where the visitors clung to the points after a lucky goal against the run of play. Their defensive qualities were clearly on display, but in other areas Chelsea looked a weak side and certainly did not deserve the three points. It was hard to feel anything other that bitterly disappointed at the final whistle - beaten by Chelsea's bad attitude to the game and our inability to carve out an equaliser despite having the majority of the second half.

Stephen Hunt started in place of Bobby Convey and immediately showed he was up for the game breaking down the left to chase the ball inside the opening minute. His run led to the first major incident of the game as the Chelsea keeper came charging out to beat Hunt to a 50/50 ball. Hunt did the right thing and leaped over Cech but unfortunately couldn't avoid contact, leaving Cech injured. Thankfully, the injury didn't look too bad as the keeper crawled off the pitch for attention not long after the contact. After a further hold up, Cudicini came off the bench as play got back underway. Unlike the Middlesbrough and Manchester United game, Reading settled quickly in a lively start. Chelsea were soon showing their intentions with players tumbling to the ground and referee Riley getting a continual verbal battering from the Chelsea team.

Defensively we were more than equal to Chelsea with Sonko putting in some perfectly timed tackles deep inside the Reading half to prevent danger. Ingimarsson's positioning was perfect as Chelsea continually ran into a wall with nowhere to go. Chelsea were struggling to move the ball forward and Reading started defending further forward as the visitors rarely managed to find a shot. Even Reading's front line were clearly man marking as Chelsea had no where to move the ball around. Chelsea's best efforts of the half were a free-kick sent wildly over the crossbar and a shot directly as Hahnemann. The best chance of the first half went Reading's way and nearly saw Reading take the lead. Hunt was causing continual problems for Chelsea down the left and took the ball close to the line before cutting in and twisting past three defenders before crossing to Doyle. Doyle had his back to goal and turn to shoot, sending the ball against the far post with the keeper beaten.

Murty was forced to limp off, having not quite recovered from last week's injury, to be replaced by Bikey at full back. Bikey was to have an excellent game along with the rest of the Reading side, but nearly made a fatal mistake as the ball was rolled out to him by Hahnemann. Bikey was running up the field and hadn't noticed the ball gifting Chelsea a rare chance. It was a rare lack of concentration by the Royals. Just before half time Lampard took full advantage of Sonko's leg on the edge of the box and chose it to take a tumble over. No doubt a foul but well executed by the Chelsea player to win a free-kick on the edge of the area. Sonko's booking was compelete nonsense. The resulting free-kick was smashed against the wall, and pinged wide to Ingimarsson who couldn't do anything apart from watch as the ball hit his leg and sped across goal and into the back of the net for the only goal of the game.

It had been a cruel goal to conceed and the frustration with Chelsea's willingness to win fouls at every opportunity boiled over in the second half. Another Chelsea dive and yet another view of Terry shoving his face into the referee's and giving him a full flow of abuse earned plenty of return abuse from the Reading fans. All of a sudden the entire home support were chanting "lets all do a Chelsea" with over 20,000 fans diving in a united Chelsea impression. It was a comical moment for an element of Chelsea's game they could do without.

The game swung Reading's way when Obi was sent off for a second booking just after the hour mark. It was suddenly all one way traffic as Reading pushed forward in search of a goal. We won a number of corners and got plenty of men inside the box but failed to test the goalkeeper. Sidwell hit a good low shot from outside the area that was just wide of the post, but unfortuantely it was a rare attempt on goal as Chelsea hung on comfortably. Bikey was next to see a red card with less than ten minutes left after he picked up a second booking, and perhaps Reading's chance to share the point evaported. In the dying minutes the ball was still firmly in the Chelsea half. Hahnemann went up for a last minute corner as everyone crowded the box. The resulting ball in saw Sonko attempt to get on the end of it, but instead collide with the Chelsea keeper who felt the full force on an incoming Sonko. And so, Chelsea, with all substitutes used were forced to swap their keeper again with the mouthy Terry pulling on the keeper's shirt. We'd failed to hit the target for the whole half and couldn't test Terry as the game approached ten minutes of added time.

At the final whistle it was like Chelsea had won the cup final, with wild celebrations in front of their fans. It showed how far Reading have come in recent seasons with the existing Premiership Champions realising what an acheivement they had managed in winning at the Madejski Stadium. The truth is they simply weren't a better side and on another day the points might have gone the other way. Looking at the top of the table, I sincerely hope that Manchester United do enough to take the title away from Chelsea this season. Despite the disappointment, there were plenty of positives after another good Reading performance. Despite the unbeaten record at last ending, Marcus Hahnemann continued his run of clean sheets in front of the North Stand, and Reading can reflect on another narrow defeat after an impressive team performance.
Graham