Back from the Game - Palace

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Good performance, deserved the three points.

Karacan man of the match. Worked his socks off in midfield, closing down and coming forward.

Cummings and Harte looked assured and steady at the back.

Long was decent.
at the Palace fans who tried to 'invade' the East Stand.

[ayjaydee]

A bit grudging - "Long was decent", I thought that was possibly Long's best game in a Reading shirt. He actually did the lone striker role as it should be played and I can only recall one or two poor touches. Overall he was my MoM closely followed by Karacan

[starbug]

Flattering scoreline, poor game until the 2nd goal. Really came to life after that but wouldn't get carried away just yet.

[Royal Lady]

I really enjoyed the second half.

Thought Karacan and Long, in particular, had great games - really matured.

Kebe is always my favourite though - I'm willing him to make one of his runs every time he gets the ball.

Howard's miss was shocking though.

Still need strengthening in my opinion, but can't see it happening somehow.

[Kitson12]

How come only one of you have even mentioned Harte? His passes were sublime. He hardly put a foot wrong.

In my opinion he just shaded it for MoM, Karacan was very very close, he was brilliant, all over the pitch.

Howard was sh!t. How on earth did he miss that chance?

Though Cummings was good, and both Mills and Pearce were solid.

Great finish from Kebe.

Long had a good game too.

Feds did what was asked.

It doesn't matter if the scoreline flattered us, we won, even though we didn't play well.

[roadrunner]

So, what happened with the Palace kids trying to get into the East Stand then?

[rotherwick_royal]

After a number of seasons pitch-side in the East stand I've now seen a couple of games this season from various parts of the West stand and you get a different perspective on things. I've never been Shane's biggest fan, but from a higher viewpoint you see just how difficult it is for a lone striker in a 4-5-1. Thought he did really well today, some of his first touches were (unusually) superb.

Karacan was my MOM, Howard seemed to be involved in everything, Harte looked like he'd been part of the team for some time.

Apart from that the most pleasing thing was that it was a good team performance. It shows that we can still get the results without the Sig.

Palace fans were loud where I was but had to laugh when they got stroppy towards the end. Have to say the atmosphere in the West Stand is dire, how come nobody claps let alone sings?

[LoyalRoyalFan]

So, what happened with the Palace kids trying to get into the East Stand then?

Tried to invade the East Stand. About 20 of them.

20 against 2,000 fans in Y25/26 wasn't going to work.

[loyalroyal4life]

So, what happened with the Palace kids trying to get into the East Stand then?

They saved it for the station

[loyalroyal4life]

So, what happened with the Palace kids trying to get into the East Stand then?

Tried to invade the East Stand. About 20 of them.

20 against 2,000 fans in Y25/26 wasn't going to work.

it probably would of against reading fans tbf

[loyalroyal4life]

we need to get someone on loan to play in the pocket if we are sticking to 4-5-1

[LoyalRoyalFan]

So, what happened with the Palace kids trying to get into the East Stand then?

Tried to invade the East Stand. About 20 of them.

20 against 2,000 fans in Y25/26 wasn't going to work.

it probably would of against reading fans tbf

From where I was sitting, they would of got a big challenge.

[Hoop Blah]

Goals change games and Longs dive for the soft first penalty was the turning point. Before that I didn't think we were in the game, not that Palace had created anything too dangerous themselves mind.

Long had a good game but was still wasteful infront of goal and lazy coming back from offside positions a few times. Other than he did well up there on his own.

Harte and Karacan both did well but Cummings still looked dangerous to me. Made a couple of good tackles but was out of position a weak in possession too much for.

Tue second half we looked good though. Amazing what a dodgy penalty and a bit of confidence can do!

[rotherwick_royal]

Goals change games and Longs dive for the soft first penalty was the turning point.

Didn't look like a dive to me and I had a good view. Long got his body between the defender and the ball and then got barged over from behind. Stonewall penalty from where I was sitting.

Can't comment on second pen as it was the far end from me.

[andrew1957]

Well RFC needed that win. Anything but a good win and there would have been an outcry on here about selling Sig. Luckily we played a very poor Palace side, that will have to improve a lot if they are going to stay up, but you can only beat the opposition in front of you and the guys did that very well today.

Fed- 8 - worth 8 for the one great save towards the end of the first half. It looked in all the way from where I was in East Stand and I was really surprised he got it round the post. A goal then and the result might have been different.
Harte - 7 - very good debut - hope he will be a good signing
Pearce 7 Did not look too troubled most of the game
Mills 7 - as above
Cummings 7 - well done to the lad. He did well today and could even have scored!
Kebe - 8 - excellent goal and should have had a couple of assists if it had not been for shocking finishing
Gunnar - 7 - always gives his all
Karacan - 8 - superb performance - nearly MOTM for me
McAnuff - 6 - some good creativity but not involved as much as I would have liked
Howard - 5 - lots of effort but little quality - not a Sig replacement for me - think he is better in the defensive role
Long - 9 - superbly led the line - definitely MOTM for me and his first touch was sublime today. LOL at all the idiots on here that want to get rid of him.

McD 9 - had to win the match today and did not disappoint

Sir John 2 - got lucky today - He gambled and got away with it IMO. RFC proved they could win without Sig today so he will feel justified

Ref 5 - very fussy and lots of strange decisions but at least he gave us the penalties when all too many Championship refs bottle the big decisons.

[londinium]

Flattered us???? - Utter rubbish - we should have had 6 0r 7 in the second half.

Howard- miss
Gunner - blast over the bar
Kebe - wide
Cummings take effort
Karacan - tame effort
Long - straight at keeper

I admit we were not great but Palace were piss poor especially when Vaughan went off.

Jimmy and Longy skinned the full backs every time.

Long MOTM but all did well enough to comfortably beat a relagation candidate.

[loyalroyal4life]

From where I was sitting, they would of got a big challenge

I know what u mean but there is a difference in having more numbers and actually wanting to fight which most of those 2,000 i am sure would not have.

[biscuitman]

Invading the train station aswell

[loyalroyal4life]

Well RFC needed that win. Anything but a good win and there would have been an outcry on here about selling Sig. Luckily we played a very poor Palace side, that will have to improve a lot if they are going to stay up, but you can only beat the opposition in front of you and the guys did that very well today.

Fed- 8 - worth 8 for the one great save towards the end of the first half. It looked in all the way from where I was in East Stand and I was really surprised he got it round the post. A goal then and the result might have been different.
Harte - 7 - very good debut - hope he will be a good signing
Pearce 7 Did not look too troubled most of the game
Mills 7 - as above
Cummings 7 - well done to the lad. He did well today and could even have scored!
Kebe - 8 - excellent goal and should have had a couple of assists if it had not been for shocking finishing
Gunnar - 7 - always gives his all
Karacan - 8 - superb performance - nearly MOTM for me
McAnuff - 6 - some good creativity but not involved as much as I would have liked
Howard - 5 - lots of effort but little quality - not a Sig replacement for me - think he is better in the defensive role
Long - 9 - superbly led the line - definitely MOTM for me and his first touch was sublime today. LOL at all the idiots on here that want to get rid of him.

McD 9 - had to win the match today and did not disappoint

Sir John 2 - got lucky today - He gambled and got away with it IMO. RFC proved they could win without Sig today so he will feel justified

Ref 5 - very fussy and lots of strange decisions but at least he gave us the penalties when all too many Championship refs bottle the big decisons.

Dont think an average performance against a team that will be battling relegation can class SJM as 'getting away with it'

[floyd__streete]

Good win, somewhat flattering margin of victory but we deserved the points, a big three points because we need to beat the likes of Palace at home if we're going to consolidate in this division. Some excellent individual performances, particularly from Karacan and Long and Federici deserves a positive mention from me for once for a quite superb save at 1-0. This was hardly inspiring stuff at times and we might have been helped by a generous penalty decision for the first goal.....but a win and a clean sheet, happy days.

Special mention for the Palace chav-army at the end. You were an embarassment. If you get that wound up by seeing your team lose then I suggest you support someone other than Crystal Palace.