MATCH REPORT: 2007/2008 Season
3 May 2008: FA PREMIER LEAGUE
READING 0 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1
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goals
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Reading: -
Tottenham: Keane (16 mins). |
Half Time: 0-1 Attendance: 24,125
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teams
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Reading:
Hahnemann, Rosenior (Oster 88), Ingimarsson, Duberry, Shorey, Doyle (Long 80), Harper, Bikey (Matejovsky 65), Hunt, Lita, Kitson.
Subs Not Used: Federici, Cisse.
Tottenham: Cerny, Hutton, Dawson, Woodgate, Gilberto, Jenas, Zokora, Huddlestone (O'Hara 61), Malbranque, Keane (Boateng 77), Bent. Subs Not Used: Robinson, Chimbonda, Taarabt. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
bookings
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Reading: Harper.
Tottenham: - Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire). |
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report
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The first half of this game illustrated perfectly why Reading's Premier League status is left hanging by a thread after this narrow home defeat. From the kick off the home fans roared their team forward, and although Reading were positive in their attitude, throwing over a couple of early crosses, two attacks in the first five minutes broke down due to misplaced passes from Bikey and Hunt. In contrast Spurs superior technique, passing and movement enabled them to retain possession and control the game. Hahnemann had to save with his legs from Bent when Spurs worked a clear opening on ten minutes. With only sixteen minutes gone, Keane silenced the home crowd when Bent strolled through the centre of the Reading defence and slipped him a short pass. All Keane had to was guide the ball past an exposed Hahnemann, which he did with ease. It was worrying how effortless it looked. The best move of the match culminated in Malbranque guiding the ball past Hahnemann for an excellent goal, only to see it disallowed incorrectly for offside. The rest of the half saw Spurs string passes together with Malbranque looking particularly sharp and Keane dropping into midfield leaving Reading chasing shadows. The Royals response was to switch to a 4-3-3 formation by moving Doyle inside to join Kitson and Lita. When Spurs did relinquish possession Reading soon returned the ball, either with a careless pass, or a long ball which Woodgate and Dawson dealt with comfortably. The new formation simply clogged up the central areas and offered insufficient width. When a sight of goal did present itself, Lita blasted over, and Hunt completely mishit his shot and it bobbled harmlessly wide. At half time the outcome looked depressingly inevitable. The gulf in class was enormous.
The second half was better from Reading although Spurs reminded us two minutes after the break they were capable of carving open the Reading defence. Shorey had to make an outstanding tackle to prevent a second goal that would have certainly killed the game on fifty minutes. The home crowd found its voice again and lifted the players and Reading enjoyed a spell of pressure. Spurs obligingly sat back as Doyle and Lita began to run at defenders. On the hour Lita rolled a good pass into the path of Bikey who struck his shot well only to see it deflected over off the head of Spurs defender. The game became stretched and chances began to come for Reading. Matejovsky was on after sixty-five minutes and looked far more comfortable in possession than everyone else in a Reading shirt. Spurs were breaking out occasionally and after seventy-five minutes Bent hit the inside of the post. Matejovsky shot just wide when set up by Kitson. Kitson forced a good save from Cerny in the last five minutes and then Rosenior was foiled by an even better one a minute later. The final whistle blew and the ground emptied with everyone gloomily reflecting on next week in the knowledge that Fulham had pushed Reading into the bottom three and survival was now not impossible but out of their hands. The harsh reality of the situation is that the current team is not quite good enough. One win in the last six games would probably been enough to secure safety but they could not even produce a goal in those fixtures. I think Coppell is a great manager but the numerous changes in recent games have been hard to understand. The players attitude clearly has not been right with Sonko and Fae behaving unprofessionally, Kitson having tantrums, and Shorey publicly criticising the team's performance at Newcastle. Today with Bikey, superb at centre back in March, playing in midfield and Matekovsky on the bench, I did not believe from the start selection was right. Luck has also played its part and the loss of Little was significant this season. Having said all of that, everything could change very quickly. Reading can beat Derby and Fulham and Birmingham might not win. To say that next week wil be tense is a massive understaement. Whatever happens, things will have to change this summer. John Wells |
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