Football’s a deeply ironic game, really. For instance, Reading can go on an unbeaten run despite being very poor going forwards, and then lose that unbeaten run despite putting in – by far – their best
attacking performance of the season.
My main gripe with Noel Hunt’s management has been just how stale, flat and incoherent the Royals have looked going forwards. However, in that regard, this performance was absolutely chalk and cheese from what we’ve grown used to in recent weeks and months.
Reading had managed just one shot on target all game last weekend at Exeter City – and that was created by a wayward Grecian header. Today though, the Royals had 10 times that number, as well as another 13 off target.
And these weren’t merely pot-shots from outside the box: Reading created quality, close-range efforts that really should have been converted. Paddy Lane had two well stopped, Jack Marriott should have done better when getting in behind a couple of times, and Cardiff keeper Nathan Trott did very well to deny Matt Ritchie, Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan and Charlie Savage from further out.
Ironically (again) it was a Reading long shot that did end up in the net. Lewis Wing gave the Royals a deserved first-half lead by rocketing the ball home from range – beating the ‘keeper with a vicious, deceptively swerving strike.
All of that attacking output would have been commendable in any game. For an away match at one of the promotion favourites, that’s particularly good.
In short: anyone who analyses this as ‘just another loss’ is missing a huge amount. The result came down to ruthlessness in both thirds, not the same broader failings we’ve previously witnessed. The Royals created more than enough to win and, with a bit of luck, we’d be talking about a very deserved win.
This game was (to a large but certainly not complete extent) a big step forward for this side. If you wanted proof there’s a quality attacking team in there somewhere, waiting to come out, today was just the ticket.
At the same time, there can’t be huge complaints about the result itself when you consider the differing levels of ruthlessness at both ends of the pitch. While Reading didn’t punish Cardiff as they should have done, the Bluebirds had no problems doing so to the Royals.
The hosts actually only managed three shots on target all afternoon. Frustratingly though, from a Reading perspective, that was enough for the Royals to be picked off and the lead to be reversed.
Both times Reading were exposed too easily down their left. In the 49th minute, Omari Kellyman cut infield and his shot went through Jack Stevens, albeit via a deflection off Finley Burns. 16 later, the Bluebirds got joy in the same area, and Yousef Salech was unmarked in the middle as he converted a low cross.
Yes, it was good play from a good side. But poor keeping and poor defending made Cardiff’s job a lot easier.
It’s gutting and a harsh reflection on Reading’s efforts that this game ended in defeat. No, the Royals weren’t perfect, but they were definitely good enough for a deserved win.
Hunt made three changes to the side that drew at Exeter. Joel Pereira is out for a few weeks, meaning Stevens was called into action, while Kelvin Abrefa and Jeriel Dorsett came in at full-back for Ashqar Ahmed and Matty Jacob.
Reading (4-2-3-1): Stevens; Abrefa, Burns, O’Connor, Dorsett; Wing, Savage; Ritchie, Doyle, Lane; Marriott
Subs: Norcott, Yiadom, Jacob, Elliott, Kyerewaa, Ehibhatiomhan, O’Mahony
First half
Let’s start with the defensive side of things, given that the onus was on the hosts to attack in this game, due to the different league positions. Reading did an excellent job at the back in the first half, restricting Cardiff to just one dangerous moment, when Jeriel Dorsett scrambled the ball off the line at 0-1.
Down the other end, the Royals weren’t free-flowing throughout the first half, but they had multiple bright spells going forwards and came very close on multiple occasions.
Wing provided the first of those moments around a quarter of an hour in when his free-kick was defected onto the bar and out for a corner. 15 or so later, Lane seized on a loose pass in the Bluebirds’ box and shot, but the keeper denied him at close range.
It was looking like one of those afternoons when Reading would show promise but have nothing at all to show for their efforts. In the 38th minute however, Wing had other ideas, finding space in the Cardiff half and slamming a powerful, swerving shot home. 0-1.
That was ultimately enough to get the Royals into the break with a lead. Higher pressing out of possession, as well as intensity and quality in possession, had resulted in a really encouraging 45.
Half time: 0-1
Reading came close to a perfect start to the second half a couple of times. Marriott and Kamari Doyle were both played in behind soon after the restart, the former having a shot saved and the latter going down too easily in the area in lieu of a shot or pass.
But in the 49th minute, Kellyman made it 1-1. There was too much space for him to work in and get a shot off from, and his deflected shot beat Stevens too easily. Yes, Pereira probably would have saved that, but Stevens should have done so too, regardless of the awkward deflection off Burns.
That goal, fortunate as it was (to an extent) from Cardiff’s perspective, was the lift the Bluebirds needed. While they never really had Reading consistently on the ropes at any point, they were noticeably more confident after the equaliser.
Ritchie was involved a couple of times with chances at 1-1. His own shot, powerful, was well saved at the near bottom corner, before he set up Wing for a blocked shot.
Cardiff were the next to strike though. It was too simple for them to get into a dangerous crossing position in our left-back spot, and the marking in the middle wasn’t there either. Salech won’t have any more straightforward chances than that. 2-1.
Hunt turned to his bench five minutes later, making a triple change. Off went Abrefa, Ritchie and Doyle, replaced like-for-like by Andy Yiadom, Daniel Kyerewaa and Ehibhatiomhan.
My worry at this stage was that Reading would crumble, but in fact, the response to going behind was excellent. After the third goal of the game, the Royals had five shots on target, five off target and one blocked to Cardiff’s zero, one and one respectively.
The best of those chances came a few minutes after the triple change. Reading broke dangerously down the right, a low cross came in from Marriott and was wisely left by Ehibhatiomhan. With the goal gaping, Lane pulled the trigger from close range… blocked on the line.
There was time later for Ehibhatiomhan and Savage to force really good saves out of the keeper from the edge of the box. Marriott also got in behind and should have done better with his left-footed shot, but the keeper was equal to him.
Though the Royals faded later on, they’d successfully stemmed any Cardiff threat (helped by swapping the vulnerable Dorsett for Jacob in the 74th minute) and created enough to win the game. Mark O’Mahony got a few minutes of normal time when coming on for Lane, and that change should really have come earlier if it was going to be made.
Full time: 2-1
When looking at this game in isolation, there was a lot to be encouraged by. That’ll understandably get missed in a lot of the post-match chat, given the result and the fact that Reading are now in the relegation zone.
Inevitably, promising performances tend to get overlooked at this point of the season. Had this match come in the first few games 2025/26, fans would have been more willing to overlook the errors.
The bigger issue now though is if, and how, Reading will push up the table. On the evidence of today, there’s a real chance of that happening, thanks to this side hopefully now clicking as an attacking force. But this showing must be built on and errors – at both ends of the pitch – must be cut out.
For now I’m still in the Hunt Out camp; one swallow (especially one which cannot finish chances) does not a summer make. But this game may well be the first step in the gaffer turning things around.
