Rovers made it two wins out of three for their September fixtures after battling their way to victory against an indifferent Reading side, who gave Tony Mowbray’s men a late scare, despite the visitors having enough in the tank to hang onto their early lead.
There were three changes as well as a formation alteration at the Madejski Stadium for Rovers, following their 2-0 victory over Millwall the week prior. Rovers reverted back to their 4-2-3-1 system, as Corry Evans, Lewis Travis – who was making his 50th appearance for the club – and Sam Gallagher returned to the starting side, with the Northern Irish international making his first league appearance of the season. Tosin Adarabioyo was one of three withdrawn from the squad, as the on-loan defender wasn’t risked after picking up a knock in training, whilst Bradley Johnson and John Buckley both dropped to the bench. Additionally, Joe Rothwell wasn’t part of the matchday squad after picking up an illness in the days prior which gave Rovers’ latest recruit, Lewis Holtby, the opportunity to be part of the first-team picture, probably earlier than he may have expected, as he settled in on the bench.
With the build-up to kick-off, the 990 Rovers fans that travelled were hoping to break their Madejski Stadium curse, which has not seen them win in Berkshire since February 2014, where former winger Craig Conway’s first goal for the club downed a then playoff-hoping Royals side, 1-0.
The visitors started the game quickly as after only four minutes, they were testing the Reading defence. Stewart Downing floated in a free-kick, aimed towards the back-post which reached the head of Sam Gallagher who was looking to open his league account for the club, after heading in his first goal since his return in the 2-1 defeat away at Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup. Unfortunately for the 24-year old forward, history couldn’t repeat itself as Gallagher’s nod dropped wide of the near-post.
It wasn’t long however until Rovers broke down Reading’s resolve with their early pressure. Some build-up in possession by Rovers after eight minutes of play, led to Downing’s cross finding an unmarked Adam Armstrong who was just inside the area. The forward tracked the cross to just outside the box and composed himself before hitting an unstoppable, curling effort into the top right-hand corner of the net, leaving the Royals’ ‘keeper Rafael Cabral helplessly flailing as Armstrong (who had netted his first goal of the campaign) and Rovers wheeled away in celebration of their 1-0 lead.
Reading battled back in the 15th minute with summer signing, George Pușcaș. The Romanian international managed to break beyond Lewis Travis, down the right-hand side, before cutting inside and releasing an effort in an attempt to replicate Armstrong’s finish and draw the sides level. Although the Romanian had the right idea, his execution of the shot did not match Armstrong’s as the ball ferociously flew over the bar.
Four minutes later, Rovers nearly doubled their lead after some good positional play and awareness of runs saw Sam Gallagher with another chance to open his league account. Corry Evans picked up the ball midway through the Reading half and managed to slip Gallagher through who took a touch to control the ball before driving into the box and stroking the ball towards goal with his right-foot, which unluckily for him, narrowly flew over the bar.
A chunk of time passed before the next chance which again, fell Rovers’ way after half-an-hour. Stewart Downing continued his impressive start in Rovers’ colours in this game, and nearly managed to grab a goal that would have combined with his assist earlier on in the half. The veteran midfielder picked the ball up wide on the right-hand side before cutting in and releasing a low effort from his stronger left-foot, which Cabral had covered as he made a simple diving stop.
From Cabral’s save, Reading conjured up their second attack of the game through Andy Yiadom’s effort. Although the counter-attack was good by the home side, the 27-year old’s effort was well-blocked by Derrick Williams.
A minute later, on the 32nd minute, Yiadom fell into referee Matt Donohue’s book after a poor challenge on Greg Cunningham.
Another booking soon came Reading’s way on the 36th minute, this time to Michael Morrison who hauled down Gallagher on the right-wing.
Pușcaș came narrowly close to levelling the scoreline on the 39th minute after a mix-up in Rovers’ defence gave the Romanian a chance to equalise for the Royals. After a cross came into the Rovers box, the visiting defenders failed to clear their lines which saw the ball drop to Pușcaș whose subsequent effort was sliced over the bar.
On the 43rd minute, Royals captain Liam Moore tried his luck from an audacious 25-yards out but saw his piledriver of an effort fly wide.
As both sides tried to grab the next goal in the game, referee Matt Donohue added on one extra minute of time at the end of the first period, before calling time on half which Rovers, for the most part, had dominated, leaving Reading with a lot of discussing to do at half-time, if they were to turn it around in the second-half.
The feelings in the dressing room would have contrasted due to how the first period played out. In the home dressing room, José Manuel Gomes would have been disappointed, not only with how his side had failed to intercept the assist for Armstrong’s goal, but with how they failed to close down the forward once he was in a position to shoot. Furthermore, the 49-year old would have been frustrated with how his side had failed to create enough chances in the final third, that would have given them hope of an equaliser before the break.
In the away dressing room, Tony Mowbray, who had to rotate his initial squad before kick-off due to illness within the camp, would have been satisfied with how his ‘under the weather’ players managed to assert their dominance over the game, especially during the first half-an-hour. The 53-year old would have also been pleased with the number of chances created, as well as the lack of attacking threat Reading had posed, due to his defender’s solid work and would have been hoping that that could continue, whilst also urging his players to find the second goal that would give them a cushion.
The second-half started brilliantly for Tony Mowbray and Rovers as it only took two minutes for Bradley Dack to give Rovers the two-goal cushion they badly needed and also put himself in the headlines for his statistical achievements. With this goal, Dack moved into 40 goals in 100 appearances for the club, which isn’t at all bad for £750,000! Moving onto the goal itself, a gut-busting run down the left by Sam Gallagher, allowed the former Southampton man to hit a low cross that Dack managed to control whilst turning his markers, Tom McIntyre and Pelé Gomes, inside out before striking a low effort that deflected off both McIntyre and Cabral in the Reading goal, before hitting the back of the net to confirm the 2-0 lead.
The 52nd minute almost saw the two-goal lead reduced to one as Elliott Bennett sliced a clearance at his near-post, but luckily for him, his blushes were spared as he only conceded a corner, which Rovers dealt with.
Reading continued their early second-half pressure into the 56th minute where, John Swift’s curling effort from the edge of the area beat Rovers ‘keeper Christian Walton, but not the far-post, as it bounced back of the upright before being cleared by Bennett.
With the ball cleared out of play by Bennett, Reading made their first change of the game as Tom McIntyre departed and was replaced by Yakou Méïté.
Swift didn’t have to wait long for another chance however, as only a minute later, he managed to reduce the arrears with a fine finish into the bottom left-hand corner of the net, which left Walton stranded and slow to react, after numerous blocked efforts from range led to the ‘keeper being positionally unaware of his whereabouts. Numerous blocked shots from multiple Reading players saw Walton dive towards his near-post but fail to recover properly and cover a large part of his goal, as Swift ‘swiftly’ stroked the ball, seconds later, into the bottom left-hand corner from just outside the penalty area, to half the deficit at 2-1.
The 65th minute saw the introduction of another Reading substitute as former Manchester United defender, Tyler Blackett was introduced in-place of Michael Morrison.
Two minutes after the Reading change, Méïté tried his luck in attempting to equalise for the hosts, but his driven effort had too much power on it, as his shot cleared the crossbar.
Rovers soon made a few changes of their own on the 70th and 73rd minute respectively as Thursday’s signing, Lewis Holtby was introduced for his Rovers debut, in-place of the first goalscorer, Adam Armstrong, whilst the second change saw Corry Evans depart, with Bradley Johnson replacing him.
Holtby got straight in on the action with his new teammates as he linked up well with Gallagher, providing the forward with a through ball who himself tried to pick out Dack, but saw the final ball intercepted by some alert Reading defenders.
The final Rovers change came on the 77th minute as Sam Gallagher departed, with the experienced Danny Graham taking his place for the last quarter-of-an-hour.
Holtby again found himself in the thick of the action, only a minute after Graham’s introduction. Dack and Holtby combined well with the former playing in the latter, who burst into the box and managed to hit a shot that, despite being closed down by multiple defenders, he should have done better with, as the ball cannoned over the crossbar.
From the goal-kick, Cunningham fell into the referee’s notebook after kicking the ball away after a foul was awarded.
On the 81st minute, Yiadom tried his luck from range, but his effort hit the back of the stand.
A couple of minute later, Bradley Johnson forced a save from Cabral, as the former Norwich City man’s low grass-cutting drive looked destined to treble Rovers’ goalscoring exploits, but for the long arms of Cabral.
In the 87th minute, with Reading getting desperate for an equaliser, they tried their hand at a final change as Torino loanee Lucas Boyé was introduced as a final roll of the dice, in-place of former Rovers loanee and one of Mowbray’s admitted summer targets, Lucas João.
Before the 90th minute appeared on the clock, Yiadom and Pușcaș combined to have the final chance of normal time. The former’s cross into the latter, was a good one that Rovers failed to deal with, but the forward couldn’t keep the header down as his effort sailed wide of the target.
As the clock ticked over into the 90th minute, referee Matt Donohue called for an extra five minutes of time to be added on, after the six substitutions had been made in the half.
The 92nd minute saw Rovers’ final chance of the game fall to Bradley Johnson, who linked up well with Danny Graham before testing Cabral with a low effort. The Rovers substitutes linked up with an impressive one-two, before the midfielder’s low drive forced Cabral to fling himself down to his right in order to deny Rovers a deserved third goal.
On the 93rd minute, Bennett was cautioned for a foul inside the Rovers half.
The final act of the game came mightily close to drawing Reading level as Liam Moore forced Christian Walton into a routine save. Swift’s floated free-kick was nodded towards goal by Moore, straight down the throat of Walton who fell onto the ball in order to guarantee the points for Rovers, as the referee soon called time on a thrilling game for the away fans.
A long trip down to the south was rewarded with the three points that Rovers and their fans deserved, especially after not being so successful in recent times, away at the Madejski Stadium. The performance, although lacked the solidarity of a clean sheet, was more than satisfactory, given the strength that Rovers showed in attack, which on another day, could have seen it end 3-1 or 4-1, given the number of opportunities the likes of Gallagher, Dack, Armstrong and even Holtby, had. Whilst Reading have had a topsy-turvy start to the season, they still remain a threat with their possession style of play and their pace on the flanks, which is something Rovers dealt with magnificently today, despite the Swift goal which, on second look, could have potentially been avoided with quicker closing down.
It would be insulting not to attribute some praise towards Bradley Dack after the playmaker netted his 40th goal in 100 appearances, in the Blue and White halves of Rovers, which saw him net his three consecutive league games, for the first time in his career. After arriving at Ewood Park in the summer of 2017 for a measly £750,000, Dack took both Rovers and the Championship by storm, after a ‘perfect’ League One season during his debut year at Ewood Park. The 25-year old has come on leaps and bounds since transitioning as part of Tony Mowbray’s key man and he, like all the fans, will be hoping that his goalscoring streak never ends.
Turning attentions towards the league table, Rovers find themselves in a healthy 10th position with a goal difference of +1 and a points tally of 13, which only sees them two points off the playoff spots.
In terms of upcoming fixtures, Mowbray’s men are set to try and complete a 100% win ratio in September next week, as they welcome Luton Town to Ewood Park on Saturday 28th September at 3pm. After the newly promoted side depart, another home game is on the horizon as high-flying Nottingham Forest make the midweek trip to Lancashire on Tuesday 1st October at 7:45pm. Once the back-to-back home ties are out of the way, Rovers pack their bags and head down to London to face Queens Park Rangers at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium – more commonly known as Loftus Road – on Saturday 5th October at 3pm.
