Joel Pereira: 5
Had to be alert early on as Barnsley had multiple chances to shoot in the opening 20 minutes. Made a great save in the eighth minute, diving to his right, but conceded from the resulting corner, with the defenders having already lost the battle in front of him.
Started the second half with a bit of fun, miscuing his first touch and skying the resulting clearance out of play. Followed that by slicing a punch, and needing help to get it away.
Had a few good claims outside of those moments, and was faced
with a close-range redirect and a penalty for the rest of the Barnsley goals, but has had better games dominating his box.
Ashqar Ahmed: 4
Struggled defensively in the opening stages, and made a few mistakes you’d expect from a young player, occasionally holding onto the ball for too long, or trying to dribble past a player when he didn’t need to.
Won the ball well in a one-on-one situation in the 40th minute, taking it away from Reading’s box and winning a foul. Shortly after was booked when he lost it on the dribble and dragged back the ball thief.
Suffered a bad opening to the second half, first seeing the crosser get in behind him for Barnsley’s second goal, and then giving away the penalty with a rash tackle for their third. Withdrawn shortly after.
Finley Burns: 6
Quietly but importantly read a ball in behind an out-of-position Ahmed in the 20th minute to prevent a potentially dangerous situation. Also let his man in behind late in the first half but was bailed out. Didn’t get the same grace for the second goal when he lost track of Keilor Dunn.
Booked for taking down Vickers on the edge of the box to stop him from bursting through. Generally more solid today and better with his decision making than he was in the two games before the break. Struggled through the closing stages with bad cramp.
Derrick Williams: 6
Reading appear to be using a zonal marking hybrid when defending corners (as is pretty common), but Williams found himself exploited in that system when Elliott blew a marking assignment for Barnsley’s first goal. Outjumped by Earl but was left up against two men.
Found himself the target of an attacking set piece for Reading and put it across goal well enough.
Started the second half with a tackle you’d pay the ticket price for alone, sliding in when Reading were cut open to thrust it out for a corner. Made a pair of nice punches through the lines shortly after that deserved better from the midfield.
Thrown forwards in desperation at the end of the game, but couldn’t knock the ball down.
Matty Jacob: 5
Tasked with ex-Royal Caylan Vickers from the off today. Did incredibly well in the opening five minutes to get back and just about cut out a pass into the seam, flying a leg out.
Booked giving away a free-kick on the outside of the box, whacking an arm into his man in a coming-together. Moved out to the right side when Ahmed was replaced in the second half. Not awful today, but just a few steps behind a few too many times in challenges.
Lewis Wing: 6
Found Savage on the outside of the box in the 12th minute to give him a chance to shoot.
Wasted an opportunity to shoot from a long free-kick when he blasted it into the first man. Almost found Kyerewaa with a clever ball into the box in the 41st minute, but just undercooked it. Raked some good balls forwards throughout, and helped Reading with their best period of the game in the second half.
Did better with his second free-kick, forcing a good save out of the ‘keeper from the edge of the box. Forced a really good save out of the ‘keeper with his last free-kick in stoppage time, whipping it across the wall.
Ben Elliott: 5
A little all over the place in the first half, unable to get into a game in which Reading had very little possession. Occasionally caught out of position when Barnsley had the ball, but generally settled a little bit as the game went on.
Didn’t track Earl’s run past him for Barnsley’s opener, leaving Williams with two to mark.
Had a good period on the ball right at the end of the first half, linking up with Lane and Ahmed. Not awful today, but still learning in the early stages of his career.
Charlie Savage: 5
Had his first chance to shoot early on but put it just wide of the top corner. Given a lot of space to cover by his own gameplan, and often two players to cover thanks to Barnsley’s game plan, Savage and Elliott both looked five yards behind the play in the opening stages.
Again, this was often through no fault of Savage or Elliott’s own, with Reading not fixing the errors permanently until the second half.
Booked for sliding in with a boot raised – may have gotten a foot on some of the ball, but needs to cut that type of challenge out to avoid that type of booking.
Got into space really well when Reading created a chance down the left in the 71st minute, but dragged it across the box and past the far post.
Paddy Lane: 5
Slid onto a corner that evaded everyone else to get a decent shot off, but couldn’t put it the right side of the side netting. Looked relatively lively in the first half when he had a chance to get up to speed, but was rarely found with a good opportunity to do so.
Sprung Reading’s first dangerous counter attack of the day. Finding Kyerewaa with a ranging ball in behind the back line.
Faded a little as the game went on and was withdrawn in the second half.
Jack Marriott: 7
Given his first chance to shoot by Kyerewaa’s layoff, but couldn’t find a way around the defender, seeing his effort blocked out for a corner.
Pressed the goalkeeper gamely throughout the first half and got his reward in the 35th minute, pouncing on an awful decision from the keeper to chase out to the sideline. Marriott nipped in, won the ball, and coolly chipped it up and over everyone into the waiting net for a quality finish.
Held up the ball well a few times in the early second half. Got his first shot of the period wide in the box when he found space from a Wing pass, driving it sweetly but too close to the ‘keeper.
Got his reward for his holdup play with an assist for Kyerewaa in the 66th minute, laying it off with his back to goal. Continued the link-up play by finding Wing in the box just a touch too close to the ‘keeper for a finish shortly after. Withdrawn late.
Daniel Kyerewaa: 7
One of the brighter starters for Reading, nipping in to win a ball while springing back for Reading. Couldn’t get into it much but happy to run at his full-back when the ball was with him. Laid off the ball nicely for Marriott to hit at the end of a counter-attack.
Made a fantastic first touch to create a ball forward for Jacob to chase late in the first half.
Went out to the right side when Long Kelvin entered, and used the position to pick up his first goal for Reading with a well placed low strike that had too much power for the keeper.
Kept running until late in the game, winning Reading a stoppage-time free-kick before pulling up with cramp.
Subs
Jeriel Dorsett: 6
Replaced Ahmed when Reading’s defence was in a position of need, but went out to the left side.
Went in and locked down his seam well with one important good interception in particular stopping Barnsley getting in behind in the late stages.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan: 5
Attacked Marriott’s cross well in the 80th minute, leaving a trail of defenders in his wake but not quite reaching the ball. Struggled to get close to the ball outside of that though and often dropped very deep to look for it.
Kamari Doyle: 6
Earned the Barnsley captain a yellow card with a really good piece of dribbling, getting around two players and needing to be taken down. Pretty solid physically and may push for a start in the nex game.
Liam Fraser: 5
Struggled to impact the game much after his introduction, but helped work it in possession a few times.
Mamadi Camara: 5
Took a heavy hit that had him struggling a little physically in the late stages. Had an opportunity to pass forward behind the lines in stoppage time with a potential counter attack in the offing, but couldn’t find a target.
Average: 5.5/10
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