Joel Pereira: 6
Able to make his return to the lineup for the first time since the 1-1 draw with Exeter City on October 11. Had to do sparingly little in the first half, but started the second with a strong high claim.
Made a pair of great saves as the game ticked over to the last 10 minutes, diving low to his right to keep out the first with a strong palm before turning away the long range rebound.
Kelvin Abrefa: 7
Got really high and wide often and early, standing up his full-back a few times to attempt a cross or cut-back inside.
Got the better of Freestone to see the defender booked with one of his runs into the high space in build-up. Showed real aggression throughout, winning the ball well of old teammate Chem Campbell a few things.
Misplaced a pass to Wing early in the second half and was incredibly lucky not to be punished with a goal.
Worked incredibly hard defensively through the final 30 minutes, forming a nice partnership with Ritchie who communicated well.
Paudie O’Connor: 6
Had to deal with the lanky Ahadme throughout, and mostly had the beating of him throughout the first half. Saw one clearance unfortunately smash into the first Stevenage player and was bailed out by Williams. Took contact well to earn Reading a foul and some time to recover in their own half midway through the first period.
Slid in forcefully midway through the second half to cut out a fast Stevenage attack before it hit the box.
Derrick Williams: 7
Forced a powerful headed clearance well outside of Reading’s box just after the half-hour mark. Generally used his left foot to good effect on the left side of build-up play and was tidy throughout the first half, only being inaccurate when he went long.
Snapped in well when O’Connor’s clearance hit a Stevenage player and deflected in behind.
Jeriel Dorsett: 6
Booked in the opening 10 minutes when the ref adjudged him to have pulled down his man in a 50/50 tussle. Initially shown a red card right at the end of the first half, but had the second yellow rescinded and given to Kyerewaa instead.
Made an incredibly well timed sliding challenge inside the box in second half injury time, blocking the ball away.
Lewis Wing: 6
Snapped into challenges well higher up the field than in recent games, and was able to spray the ball effectively to the wide players on both sides of the pitch in the opening 20 minutes. Corked a shot into the back of Ehibhatiomhan’s head midway through the first. Ouch.
Floated a fantastic free-kick across the front for Reading to attack, resulting in a deflection just over the bar. Let a misplaced but controllable ball from Abrefa fall to Ahadme just outside of the Reading box early in the second half and will have been delighted to see the ball hit the crossbar.
Charlie Savage: 7
Opened his account for the season with his less favoured right foot: proving once and for all that a professional footballer’s “weak” foot is usually at a higher level than any of us could achieve!
Put a cultured curl on the looping effort to get over the jump of two defenders and take the goalkeeper out of play.
Had a second chance to shoot from the edge of the box after a corner, but saw his shot blocked. Screamed back to carefully detach a Stevenage player from the ball when he was about to enter the box.
Ghosted into the wide left side when he got high up and put in a few good crosses, finding Ehibhatiomhan with an early cross in the 51st minute.
Kamari Doyle: 6
Free to roam around the SCL Stadium pitch in Leam Richardson’s midfield. Clipped a great cross in to the back post for Ehibhatiomhan to head on target early in the game.
Able to dribble in the middle of the park a few times, earning a free-kick on the outside of the box with one such early second half dribble.
Made some good moves up the field to harass Stevenage and not allow them out of their half easily.
Paddy Lane: 5
With Abrefa as the high player on the right in build-up, Lane got to join the half space in the right channel in build-up. Made some cultured touches in midfield in Reading’s fast start.
Spring onto a rebound header back into midfield and stung a powerful shot just over from outside of the box in the 38th minute.
Tracked back well and assisted Abrefa in mostly locking down his side defensively throughout the first half.
A little quieter than the others around him, but still had a good game.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan: 6
Pulled a few early long balls forward out of the sky. Made a good run and arguably should have been found by Doyle in the runup to Kyerewaa’s 20th-minute shot.
Threaded a fantastic through ball for Kyerewaa to run onto in the 35th minute, holding things up nicely and almost getting an assist for the pass.
Grew into the position nicely through the game, making some good runs forward into holes in Stevenage’s backline. Finished one of those runs by meeting a Charlie Savage cross that was just a little behind him, sending the header over the bar.
Ran fearlessly into a gap between two Stevenage players towards the end of the game and took a knock for his troubles, spending a few minutes on the deck.
Daniel Kyerewaa: 6
Started on the left side as the wide forward for Reading. Showed real intent, laying off the ball for Doyle in the box in the opening five minutes and smashing a ball across the face of goal minutes later.
Showed what his pace can do a few times in the first half. Streaked into the box to pick up a through ball from Doyle and sat the first defender down, but saw his 20th-minute shot blocked. Happy to take on his full-back throughout.
Sprinted past the back shoulder of his defender to latch onto Ehibhatiomhan’s dangerous through ball, but couldn’t quite tap it around the ‘keeper, seeing it rebound off him and out of play for a goal kick.
Kept Stevenage honest throughout the first half, and did fade, but had performed well when he was taken off.
Subs
Matt Ritchie: 6
Stepped into Lane’s role and helped Reading keep things calm in midfield. Slipped a nice ball through for Abrefa that allowed the full-back to win a corner.
Showed his experience as Reading boxed out the final minutes of the game without too much trouble, and helped Abrefa to lock his corner down.
Mark O’Mahony: 5
Ran onto a knock down from Williams shortly after coming on but couldn’t get it under control. Scrapped well enough in the box but couldn’t find himself a chance.
Randell Williams: 6
Came on with 15 minutes left to make his Reading debut. Replaced Kyerewaa, making a nice step over the ball to beat one player out wide.
Picked up a ball in the middle of the pitch and drew the challenge from a Stevenage player, nearing the man a booking.
Andy Yiadom: N/A
Came on with very limited time remaining and slotted into the right-back position, helping Reading to see out the game.
Average: 6.07/10
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