Reading under-18s exited the FA Youth Cup in the fourth round on Wednesday night, but not after a valiant effort, losing 3-2 against a strong Chelsea side at the SCL Stadium.
Two goals from Chelsea’s Ryan
Kavuma-McQueen, either side of the Royals’ T’Shay St Louis rifling an equaliser into the top corner, put the visitors ahead at the break. A second-half goal scored by Reggie Watson, direct from a free-kick, turned out to be enough to secure a place in the next round for Chelsea, after George Booth had pulled one back for the Royals with just over 15 minutes of the match still remaining.
It was a tough last-16 fixture, with Reading unlucky to have been drawn against one of the favourites. Chelsea were undefeated in their under-18s Premier League South group after 10 matches, their last victory coming on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Birmingham City, and have good pedigree in the competition, winning the cup on nine occasions – the last time in 2022.
The Royals entered the competition in the first round proper, beating Bracknell Town 3-0. Cheltenham Town were the visitors in round two, Reading coming back from a two-goal deficient to take the game to extra-time, eventually winning 4-3 on penalties.
After the Royals conceded a late goal against Middlesbrough in the third round, the match went to another penalty shoot-out, in which Reading edged a nerve-wracking, sudden-death finish to win 7-6, setting up the Chelsea clash.
In contrast, Chelsea entered the competition in the third round, beating Brentford 2-1 with goals from Chizaram Ezenwata and Kobe Barbour, who were both in the starting line-up on Wednesday evening.
Team: Toby Borgnis (GK), Ryan Zie, Callum Cliff, George Booth, Anthony Dove, Harley Irish (captain), Tyler Adjei (Jubilee Ntege, 45), Ryan Beacroft, Kallum Fuller-Thompson (D’Nayo Hunte, 81), Scofield Lemini-Dekam, T’Shay St. Louis
Unused subs: Matthew Pullinger (GK), Matthias Ojo, Lucas Daka, Henry Agyekum, Joseph Ntege,
Reading goalscorers: St Louis, 30’; Booth, 73’
Chelsea goalscorers: Kavuma-McQueen, 6’, 38’; Walsh 61’
Reading yellow cards: St Louis, 51’
Chelsea yellow cards: Kavuma-McQueen, 43’; Holland, 83
Reading red cards: None
Chelsea red cards: None
First half
Harrison Gilkes’ Royals came into the match having not played a competitive game since early December (a 5-0 defeat at Southampton), so it perhaps wasn’t a surprise that it took them a while to get up to speed and gain a bit of confidence.
The team started off in what looked like a defensive 5-4-1 formation, moving to a 4-2-3-1 in attack, with Beacroft the player to transition while also trying to keep a watch on Chelsea midfield playmaker Walsh.
Chelsea came flying out of the blocks with the Royals doing well to survive the opening half an hour, largely down to the heroics of goalkeeper Borgnis, who pulled off a string of saves.
The pace of the visitors in attack was frightening and clear to see when, four minutes in, Barbour broke down the Reading right, cut in and fired a low shot straight at Borgnis.
Just two minutes later, Chelsea took the lead. Kavuma-McQueen danced his way down the Royals’ left and into the box before burying his shot in at the near post. 0-1.
Before Reading could get a foothold back in the match, the visitors came close on several occasions. The left foot of Borgnis denied Barbour, who had cut in from the Chelsea for the opening corner of the game.
It turned out to be the first of four Chelsea corners in quick succession, with Borgnis busy, headed clearances from the Royals defence and a near-miss when the shot from Chelsea’s Waite flew wide of the post.
After an opening battering, the Royals did however manage to get themselves back in the game and start to play with a bit of control, confidence and composure to put some pressure on the Chelsea midfield and back line.
This pressure paid off when Chelsea midfielder Walsh was caught on the ball, with Reading centre-forward Fuller-Thompson driving forward to find St Louis on the left, who burst into the penalty area and struck an unstoppable rocket of a shot into the top corner. 1-1.
As the match began to settle down into more of an even contest, the Royals were punished when trying to play the ball out of defence. Beacroft lost the ball on the edge of the box and Kavuma-McQueen was ruthless with his finish to tuck the ball past Borgnis and into the near corner. 1-2.
After Reading had won their first corner, in the 40th minute, there was still time for one last scare. Borgnis parried another Kavuma-McQueen strike, the follow-up effort thankfully blazed over the crossbar.
Half-time: 1-2
Gilkes made one change at half-time with the introduction of Jubilee Ntege in place of Adjei.
The second half started much better for Reading, with some early pressure, Lonmeni-Dekam curling a shot over the angle from the edge of the penalty area.
Substitute Jubilee Ntege was lively, given a free role, with the Royals bold in what looked like a 4-1-4-1 formation in attack.
With an hour gone the visitors were starting to regain control of the match and Borgnis was back in full action, smothering an effort from Ezenwata after the Chelsea centre-forward had been threaded through by Walsh for a one-on-one chance.
Reading will, I’m sure, be disappointed with their defending when they look back on how the third goal was conceded. Walsh somehow managed to thread a free-kick directly past the near post from a very tight, short-corner-esque, set-piece from the edge of the penalty area. 1-3.
Just as it looked like the match may have slipped away, back came Reading again. The Royals were still sprightly, desperate to get something out of the contest, and with slightly over 15 minutes remaining, they got their reward.
When Chelsea’s Watson fell to the ground deep in his own half, and his appeal for a foul was waved away by the referee, St Louis capitalised on the opportunity and passed to Booth, whose shot from within the penalty area caught the foot of a Chelsea defender and deflected into the bottom corner of the goal. 2-3.
Reading’s best chance for an equaliser came just four minutes later when St Louis’ shot bounced off Bernal in the Chelsea goal. Booth came close to grabbing his second but was just unable to get a decent connection on the follow-up effort, which bobbled agonisingly towards the goal line, only to be cleared by a Chelsea defender.
As the game drew to a finish, both sides were physically exhausted, with Chelsea using all five of their substitutes and Reading making only their second of the match when Fuller-Thompson was replaced by Hunte for the last 10 minutes.
As the match entered the four minutes added on, there was still time for one last bit of heroics from Borgnis, the young Reading goalkeeper pulling off a great double save from Chelsea substitutes Greenwood and Gordon.
Full-time: 2-3
Although the result didn’t go the way we wanted, it was a thoroughly enjoyable match to watch. Chelsea were undoubtedly – and as expected (according to the league table anyway) – the better side, with some really classy displays throughout the team and creating some really good chances.
But Reading wouldn’t lie down and, with Borgnis in great form (but that’s what good goalkeepers are for, right?), just kept going to create an exciting finish which almost headed towards extra-time again. Unlucky boys, great effort.
