So then, Reading are still waiting for their first three points on the road this season.
A 2-2 draw in which we went ahead twice (through Paudie O’Connor and Jacob Brown) and were pegged back twice (through perhaps the most predictable pair of opposition scorers possible in former Royal Jayden Wareham and debutant Danny Ings) is mightily frustrating. If you’re looking for a cliched ‘typically disappointing Reading away game’, today’s game fits the bill nicely.
While it’s definitely one to file in the
‘not good enough’ category (how could it not be when we’ve again conceded a late equaliser?), it’s not a disaster. The hosts were after all on strong form coming into this game, and if you swapped the order of the final two goals, most of us would probably be looking at this as a good point.
Was this a particularly bad Reading display? No, we saw much worse at points last season, although I’d say it was worse than the performance at Cambridge United (2-1 defeat), no better than the one at AFC Wimbledon (0-0 draw) and – most pertinently – probably second to the one put in by the hosts this afternoon.
Leam Richardson made two changes to the side that beat Notts County. Starter Andy Rinomhota and substitute Charlie Savage are on international duty, while George Earthy is out for a few weeks with a foot injury. That meant opportunities for Liam Fraser in the double pivot, Josh Stokes in the 10 role and Luke Howard on the bench.
Reading (4-2-3-1): Pereira; Godwin-Malife, O’Connor, Ward, Roberts; Wing, Fraser; Lisbie, Stokes, Lane; Marriott
Subs: Stevens, Masterson, Howard, Williams, Kyerewaa, Brown, Reid
The particularly frustrating thing for me today is the clear disconnect between what we’re capable of at home and what we’re capable of away. Simply put, this side knows how to put in a professional performance on its own patch but not on the road. Not yet, anyway.
By professional I don’t mean an amazing, dominant performance – rather, Reading thoroughly doing all the basics – as was the case last Saturday at home to Notts County, after which I wrote:
“We did everything we needed to do though. Reading were solid at the back (surrendering an xG of just 0.59, as per FotMob), created enough chances to be a convincing threat going forwards (2.62 on the same metric), took two of them and then managed that lead maturely.”
An equivalent of that paragraph for the Wycombe draw would read as follows:
“Though Reading looked bright in the first half and had their moments in the second, we didn’t do what we needed to get the win over the line. The Royals weren’t solid enough at the back (surrendering an xG of 1.96, as per FotMob) and didn’t create enough quality chances (1.25 on the same metric). Though two chances were taken, the lead wasn’t managed maturely. Twice.”
Or, to expand on that somewhat…
The first half was encouraging from a Reading perspective, having the better of the territory and threat, with the hosts offering little. Though the Royals had some good chances from which Paddy Lane and Jack Marriott should have done better, the overall attacking display wasn’t sharp enough to properly unlock the hosts.
Reading’s overall attacking threat wasn’t miles better after the break, although O’Connor did well to nod home a Lane cross shortly after the restart and Brown restored the Royals’ lead on the rebound after a Lewis Wing long-range effort in the 80th minute.
Otherwise, Josh Stokes, Kyreece Lisbie and Jack Marriott were among those to have good (but not golden) chances.
Richardson tried to amend that with a series of changes. Brown, Randell Williams and Daniel Kyerewaa were introduced for Lisbie, Marriott and Lane with a quarter of an hour to go, while Jamie Reid replaced Stokes in the 84th minute. Though Brown did find the net, those subs didn’t significantly raise the overall level.
What was happening down the other end of the pitch was the bigger problem. Wycombe grew into the contest significantly after the break; while the Royals had effectively disrupted them before the interval with some aggressive pressing, the Chairboys developed much more control of the contest – to little Reading response.
And the damage was done – twice – by frustratingly familiar sloppy defending. Dealing with crosses to the back post was a problem away to Cambridge (for the first goal) and was punished again today, Wycombe equalising on two occasions due to winning an aerial delivery at the back post.
Benn Ward should have done better each time. Stronger goalkeeping from Joel Pereira would have helped too, but I’d primarily put those goals on the lack of protection he got from the centre-back in front of him.
All in all, while I didn’t put the Notts County performance down as a particularly standout showing, all the crucial building blocks were there for convincingly winning a game of football. When you don’t have those building blocks in place – as was the case today – you may get close to a win but you’ll have to rely more on luck than you’d want to.
As things stand, my overall read on this team is that it’s still just finding its feet on the road. After all, Reading came into this game having played just two away matches – the lowest in the division – and it’s no great surprise if there’s still a lot of room for improvement away from home when we’re more used to playing on our own patch.
