Reading 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers: Player Ratings
The Royals weren't at their best across the board, but some big individual performances were key in a big win over the Chairboys.
Joel Pereira: 7
Made a good save from a powerful Kone shirt early in the second half, turning the tight angle shot out of the box rather than back into danger.
Produced a brilliant reaction save from McCleary’s header on the hour mark, managing to push himself back across goal to bat away the attempt from the second ball.
Kept his concentration well to make several important high claims as the second half went on, happily taking seconds out of the game once Knibbs had scored.
Kelvin Abrefa: 6
Played both sides of the defence today, starting at right-back but switching to left-back when Garcia was subbed. Teed up Wing nicely for a hit when he could have potentially crossed it in the second half, but again: still helped create the chance.
Found himself really involved in possession, especially as the second half went on and before he was moved to the left.
Amadou Mbengue: 6
Returned to the line-up alongside his usual partner and needed to rely on the passing ability of Bindon a lot in the first half. Struggled with the press.
Opened the second half with a fantastic run forward to break past the Wycombe press and earn a free-kick deep in the Chairboys' half.
Tyler Bindon: 7
Back in the team immediately after his bout with illness and looked as composed on the ball as usual, completing the most passes of any player in the first half.
Made a really great sliding intervention in the second half, cutting out a Wycombe attack and immediately sending it the other way.
Andre Garcia: 4
Returned to the line-up but really struggled today, especially out of possession. Seemed to struggle with his positioning and concentration. In one moment just after the hour he was far too careless about trying to get the ball out of the box, and lost it, leading to another shot for Wycombe.
He then failed to kick a ball out when trying to clear a simple ball, and was withdrawn for Rushesha shortly after. Not his day, and worth remembering he’s still a young player learning at this level.
Lewis Wing: 6
Opened the second half with a lovely curled cross to the back post, which found Camara. Potentially should have crossed again when he got the chance a few minutes later but shot high and wide.
Made some really important steps throughout the game, and earned Reading a nice easy free-kick in the closing minutes when he felt a Wycombe player on his back in his box.
Charlie Savage: 6
A little less influential than last Saturday afternoon. Had to help out Garcia in the first half a lot, leading to him not having as many opportunities on the ball as he would like.
Wycombe’s first-half press gave Savage issues with manipulating the ball properly as well, with a lot of long balls no quite finding their target.
Harvey Knibbs: 7
Able to a bit more useful than some of his teammates with Wycombe’s energy really high in the first half. Knibbs was able to occasionally win the ball in dangerous circumstances for Reading and kept his duel percentage above 50%.
Brought onto the penalty spot by Wareham and made absolutely no mistake, smashing it the opposite direction to some of his recent penalties.
Chem Campbell: 6
Started getting more involved either side of half-time. Ended the half with Reading’s only shot of the period - latching onto a good Wing ball out wide but smashing it wide.
Took confidence from that and began running directly at his full-back more, but was really struggling with that battle, losing along the ground as a rule in the first half. Perhaps he was confused as to why a full-back wears 10.
Moved out to the left after Wareham came on and got more joy against a different opponent - got a really nice shot off from the left half-space shortly before earning the Reading penalty.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan: 5
Tries to rely on the referee far too much when he goes up for aerial duels: never a winning strategy in this league. Has lots of talent when he’s able to warm up into a game, but doesn’t appear to be able to do that from the centre-forward position.
Lost the ball in one such instance shortly before he was replaced with Wareham.
Mamadi Camara: 5
A little more composed than the forwards he started alongside but no Reading forward could do much in the first half.
Moved over to the right side after Wareham came on and remained tidy. In fact, Camara only displaced one pass and lost the ball one further time all day, showing his usefulness in retaining possession in tight spots.
Withdrawn late on for Bodin.
Subs
Tivonge Rushesha: 6
Went out to the right side when he came on, taking up the position he’s cameoed in recently. Started really well, getting deep into the Wycombe half and winning a corner with his cutback.
Made a really important play in second-half injury time, stepping out to intercept the ball before bursting forward and then earning a free-kick.
Jayden Wareham: 6
On for Ehibhatiomhan just after an hour, and immediately able to battle and win a ball for Reading played over the top. Gave the defenders more to think about with his aerial presence.
Has taken the role of penalty defender for Reading, holding onto the ball to draw any abuse from the opposition before handing the ball to Harvey Knibbs.
Got the block away that lead to the final whistle for Reading, proving his importance to the team.
Billy Bodin and Andy Yiadom: N/A
Both came on late to help Reading see the game out.
Average: 5.92/10
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