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Reading 0-0 Birmingham City: Don't Fear The Reaper
The Royals make it five unbeaten with an impressive clean sheet in the early kick-off.
The spectre of Reading’s off-field chaos - the looming dread of what happens if we don’t get a takeover soon - is never that far away. It’s always lurking in the background.
What better way for Sell Before We Dai to illustrate that point for all those watching our early kick-off against Birmingham City today than to have five grim reapers appear in the stands in the 18th minute? Five for the paltry number of senior players contracted for next season, 18 for the number of points deducted by the EFL on Dai Yongge’s watch.
Hopefully that visual message made it crystal clear to the watching football world just how serious our situation is. Just how scared Reading fans are for the future of their club.
What happened on the pitch though made it clear that this is a side which doesn’t fear the reaper. A side that’s had so much thrown at it this season, had more to endure than any team should ever face, and yet still it keeps fighting, still it refuses to be dislodged from the playoff race.
If Reading were nervous about the prospect of taking on league leaders Birmingham City today, they didn’t show it. They would have good to be anxious though: this afternoon’s visitors have been going gang busters at the top of the table, with 21 points from 29 League One games and a 15-match unbeaten run before today.
What we saw though was a spirited, confident and altogether defiant Reading performance. One in which the Royals had the self-belief to play the game their way, to impose themselves on the contest rather than reacting to the opposition, and to - for the most part at least - outclass the opposition.
Birmingham weren’t at their best, but they’re still a team with quality throughout the side, off the back of a confidence-boosting cup semi-final win over Bradford City in midweek, and with the capability to bring last season’s League One top goalscorer (Alfie May) off the bench on the hour mark.
Reading had a hefty defensive challenge on their hands today, to become only the third side to keep a clean sheet against Birmingham City in the league this season (alongside Charlton Athletic and Blackpool), but they came through unscathed. And deservedly so too, even if we had to rely on an incredible goal-line clearance from Amadou Mbengue in the second half.
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Noel Hunt made one change to the side that beat Rotherham United last weekend, with Mamadi Camara replacing Jayden Wareham, meaning Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan moved central. Adrian Akande also returned to the bench.
> **Reading (4-3-3):** Pereira; Craig, Mbengue, Bindon, Garcia; Knibbs, Wing, Savage; Campbell, Ehibhatiomhan, Camara
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> **Subs:** Button, Abrefa, Holzman, Rushesha, Akande, Bodin, Wareham
The first half was pleasingly short on major incident defensively - never a bad thing in a tough game such as this one. Reading started confidently and were keen to get at the visitors to disrupt them, with the press noticeably aggressive, meaning Birmingham failed to build up any sustained pressure or seriously threaten Joel Pereira’s goal.
The opening 45 actually reminded me of the equivalent spell in the reverse fixture. Both times Reading’s game plan was to be proactive in and out of possession, which worked a treat in frustrating Birmingham. It also seemed that the Royals were again employing Ruben Selles’ narrow 4-3-3 (the centre-forward dropping deeper, the wingers tucking inside) to congest the centre of the pitch when out of possession.
The difference though was in attacking play. Reading had carried a serious threat going forwards in the reverse fixture’s first half, capped off by a deserved opening goal from Ehibhatiomhan, but that wasn’t really the case today. Then again, a drop-off is probably inevitable when we’re having to make do without Sam Smith and Ben Elliott, both key attacking personnel on the opening day.
The attacking moments that Reading conjured before the interval were glimpses more than clear-cut opportunities. Camara put a header wide from an offside position and came up with the only shot on target in the first half for either side: a long-range shot that Ryan Allsop had no difficulty in keeping out. Chem Campbell glanced a header over the bar from Charlie Savage’s inswinging corner, and long balls _almost_ had Andre Garcia and Ehibhatiomhan in on goal at various points.
The fear was that, like in the reverse fixture, Reading’s performance would drop off after the restart and Birmingham would find a higher gear. The visitors couldn’t be as tame in the second half as they had been in the first, surely?
They could. Bar that goal-line clearance from Mbengue, coming right after Pereira had pushed a long-range shot clear but not quite clear enough, Reading’s goal wasn’t seriously tested all game.
If anyone was going to nick this game, it was going to be Reading. Lewis Wing forced an excellent one-handed stop out of Allsop from range (before the goal-line clearance), while Wareham pulled his finish from inside the penalty area agonisingly wide of the far post shortly after coming on for Ehibhatiomhan.
Campbell was in on the action too, again coming close with a header. This time he hit the target, having been set up by a vicious cross from Wing, but the ‘keeper was equal to it. He also put a fairly weak finish straight at the ‘keeper late on, while Harvey Knibbs - predictably impressive with his work rate all afternoon - dragged a long-range shot wide.
On another day, one of those chances goes in and we’re talking about a _particularly_ impressive 1-0 win against an excellent side. It would have been deserved too. I’m delighted with the point and clean sheet though - more than I was expecting from this afternoon’s game on both fronts.
That’s five unbeaten for Reading now, quite the impressive upturn in form after three frustrating defeats on the bounce in January. The bedrock of that has been defensive solidity: three clean sheets gained and just two goals conceded, with one of those a penalty last weekend.
While scoring goals hasn’t come as easily recently - again, missing personnel is the problem - a resolute defence means Reading will always stand a chance of picking up points, even in the toughest games. It’s probably no coincidence that this run has coincided with Mbengue’s return from injury (he was excellent today even besides the clearance), but others have stepped up too.
Again, Michael Craig was a real star at right-back. Although he didn’t get as many chances to push forward today (understandable in the circumstances), his tenacity out of possession and composure with the ball are so, so impressive. On the other side, Andre Garcia maturing quickly in his all-round game... and of course, Tyler Bindon is just fantastic, but we knew that anyway.
_Up the playoff-hunting Royals!_
