Burton Albion 3-2 Reading: If You Don’t Laugh, You’ll Cry
Goals from Michael Craig and Sam Smith helped engineer a second-half comeback... until poor defending late on had other ideas.
With 10 minutes to go tonight, the Royals were in the middle of an excellent comeback. They’d come into this game after losing to both Stockport County and Leyton Orient, then gone 2-0 down in the first half, but had somehow pulled it back to 2-2 with a shock quick-fire brace. Going into the closing stages Reading were playing pretty well, pushing confidently for a winner. They couldn’t, could they?
Nope. Just as I was starting to process the limited positives to come out of this game - Reading gaining a point after going two down - up pops Rumarn Burrell at the back post in the 91st minute to sweep them all away.
If we’re being properly fair and thorough, there’s a lot more to this game than the late winner. Reading did do well to get back to 2-2, did play some good stuff at times and did so nearly get something out of a game that looked to have been decided by the break... but at this point in time (the game finished about 40 minutes ago as I write this), I don’t much care.
Right now I’m gutted. I’m not angry at anyone in particular - as tempting as it is when emotions are running hot to dig out individuals in the team - but it’s a particularly bitter experience to watch the Royals claw their way back to 2-2, to see them almost get over the line, and then to watch some poor defending right in front of the away end flip the script.
Reading’s failure to deal with balls into the box has been a real issue recently, was a killer tonight, and boy is it frustrating. On the one hand, yes Reading probably deserved more from this match over the 90 minutes, but then again, if you can’t do the basics at the right time, you can’t have any complaints if you come away with nothing.
This should have been an excellent response to two defeats on the bounce. Coming from two down and getting at least a point would have been a positive outcome and put us on an upward trajectory ahead of a tough game against Bolton Wanderers at the weekend, but losing in this fashion is even worse. It would have been easier on the heart if we’d not managed the comeback to 2-2 in the first place.
Noel Hunt made just the one change to Saturday’s side, replacing the injured Jeriel Dorsett with Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan. That also meant Andre Garcia being preferred to Abraham Kanu at left-back, while Kelvin Abrefa made the bench.
Reading (4-3-3): Pereira; Craig, Dean, Bindon, Garcia; Knibbs, Wing, Savage; Campbell, Smith, Ehibhatiomhan
Subs: Button, Abrefa, Holzman, Kanu, Rushesha, Camara, Wareham
Reading had the first sights of goal - Charlie Savage shooting over from the edge of the area, Sam Smith having a deflected header from a cross - but the hosts took a 1-0 lead 10 minutes in. Jack Armer swung a cross in from Burton’s left and Garcia was beaten to the ball pretty easily by Burrell, who had the straightforward job of nodding home.
The Royals hadn’t been too bad to that point, bar the frustration of the opening goal, and were actually looking fairly bright in possession. It was noticeable in the first half an hour tonight that, while the long ball was sometimes an option, Reading were more willing to play on the deck and build through the lines than they had been in Saturday’s tepid loss at Brisbane Road.
Reading were capable of some decent moves, typically going down the right flank, with Michael Craig keen to push forwards. With plenty of creativity available down the opposite side in Garcia and Ehibhatiomhan, the Royals should have made better use of that option but didn’t really do it.
Coming up with quality chances was another matter though, with Harvey Knibbs’ blocked shot probably the closest Reading came to making it 1-1, though Smith forced a save with a close-range header from an offside position.
Still, Reading were the ones with more possession and territory. So it was particularly frustrating when the hosts then doubled their lead on the half-hour mark. A deep free-kick was flicked on to former Royal Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, who tucked home past Joel Pereira for 2-0.
That goal fired up the hosts and, unsurprisingly, dampened the spirits of the visitors. Burton had probably their best all-round spell of the night in the final quarter of an hour of the first half, coming close a couple of times to putting the game to bed. The best of those chances fell to Charlie Webster, who forced a strong save out of Pereira from the edge of the box.
Just as we did the last time we came to the Pirelli, Reading went in at the break two goals behind. A comeback didn’t feel impossible, but with the game starting to go away from the Royals as the first half had progressed, and without a great amount of attacking quality on the bench, it looked unlikely.
Reading took their time getting going in the second half and didn’t really click into gear for a while. Around the hour mark things start to happen: Knibbs had a shot blocked just before a Chem Campbell header (via a Savage cross from the left) hit the bar, with JJ McKiernan spurning a golden opportunity to make it 3-0 down the other end.
Hunt soon turned to his bench to change things, swapping out the entire left-hand side. Off went Garcia and Ehibhatiomhan (both on bookings after tactical fouls in the final 10 minutes of the first half) and on came Abrefa and Mamadi Camara. The latter went to the right wing however, with Campbell operating off the left.
That reconfiguration worked pretty well, with Camara involved in the build-up to Reading’s first of the evening. In the 69th minute he snatched the ball back in the middle, played Smith in on the left, and the striker’s low cross found a rare marauding run from Craig at the back. The right-back made no mistake, slotting home to make it 2-1.
Just minutes later, provider Smith turned goalscorer. Savage’s corner to the back post was met by Harlee Dean, he nodded it back in for Smith, and it was guided over the line from point-blank range for 2-2. Cue pandemonium among the travelling fans and an awful lot of Deano, Deano, Deano chants for someone who - from our view point at the opposite end of the ground - appeared to be the goalscorer.
Just as Burton’s second had injected life into them, Reading’s second had the same effect, with the Royals playing good football, working it well and pushing forwards in search of a winner. It was clear that, when Reading were able to move the ball more quickly - typically by forming patterns down the right - they looked a threat.
As in the first half though, turning that promise into quality chances was easier said than done. Hunt made a final roll of the dice with a few minutes to go by bringing Campbell off for Jayden Wareham on the left wing, but that kind of change - bringing on a fresh face more in hope than specific expectation - was as much as he could do.
Reading should still have had enough to get over the line and seal a point at least, but Reading’s defence had other ideas. The organisation for Burton’s third, netted in the first minute of time added on, was just a mess, with the hosts able to break into space through the middle, get a cross in easily, and to find a player completely unmarked at the back post.
Ugh.
That defeat drops Reading to 10th, and we’re now losing a bit of ground on the teams around us, finding ourselves three points off sixth. Somewhat ominously we have Bolton Wanderers and Huddersfield Town up next - strong opposition in both cases, and it does feel that this losing run might well get worse before it gets better.