The Royals show just what they’re capable of in an impressive 2-1 win at London Road, with Harvey Knibbs grabbing a first-half brace.
Reading have been capable of a performance on the road this good all season and have shown it in parts of games rather than across the full 90 minutes, but today we saw the real deal.
The Royals were both excellent offensively and strong defensively to repel a dangerous Peterborough United side. Crucially they were also consistent, mature and intelligent in their approach, not letting their standards majorly slip to allow the home side back into the contest. This was the performance of a team that, in both the good moments and the bad, knew what it was doing.
The only real disappointment is that we didn’t win by a more comfortable margin. The 2-1 scoreline doesn’t do justice to how confidently Reading played, how authoritatively they imposed their gameplan and the degree to which (at times) they had the hosts on the ropes.
Due to Reading’s previously poor away form this season there have been (understandable) calls from some fans for Ruben Selles to adjust his away-game tactics, to be more pragmatic and to compromise on his positive, aggressive style - both in and out of possession. Today was a powerful argument as to why Reading shouldn’t do that.
Reading played exactly the way Selles ideally wants them to: bold in possession, happy to risk a direct pass forward to create a chance, and terrier-like to regain the ball high up the pitch when they lost it. No parking the bus, no negativity. To use a term Selles likes, Reading were the protagonists.
Reading (4-3-3): Pereira; Craig, Mbengue, Bindon, Dorsett; Elliott, Wing, Savage; Campbell, Smith, Knibbs
Subs: Button, Ahmed, Kanu, Garcia, Camara, Akande, Wareham
The Royals’ positivity and ingenuity paid off twice in a ruthless first half, with Mr Ruthless himself, Harvey Knibbs, profiting each time.
Just nine minutes into the game a clever ball in behind from a Lewis Wing free-kick found Sam Smith. Although his effort was saved by the ‘keeper, the ball fell to Knibbs to convert from close range. A classic ‘Striker’s Instinct’ goal.
A quarter of an hour later, Knibbs was the beneficiary of a through ball himself, this time from Charlie Savage. Although the pass had put Knibbs in behind, he still had a lot of work to do to see off the attention of a Peterborough defender closing him down, but did so with composure before adjusting himself and slotting the ball with his left foot past the keeper.
Posh had their moments in the first half but never had us on the ropes. Amadou Mbengue and Tyler Bindon were both on hand to put in last-ditch challenges to snuff out danger, as was Joel Pereira, who did well with an awkward low cross at one point, and also with the resulting rebound. Ricky-Jade Jones fired wide at 2-0 from inside the area at the end of a well-worked move.
The particularly pleasing thing was just how much Reading doubled down on their positive approach after the break. They would have been forgiven for approaching the second half pretty cautiously, with memories of second-half drop-offs on the road fairly fresh in the mind, but we actually saw the exact opposite.
Reading had been good in the first 45 minutes, but in the 15-minute spell after the restart, they were outstanding. The Royals throttled Peterborough and didn’t let up, pressing them aggressively and refusing to allow them any momentum.
It looked an awful lot like the Royals might extend their lead in that period: Savage hit the bar with an excellent hit from outside the area and Wing should have done better with a chance from inside the area, while Knibbs and Ben Elliott also had opportunities.
The removal of Mbengue in the 68th minute due to injury was a real blow, with his covering pace vital against Posh’s dynamic attack. While Abraham Kanu did well in his substitute appearance, lining up on the left side of a pairing while Bindon moved to the right, Mbengue had given Reading more defensive command.
Selles turned to his bench once more with just under a quarter of an hour to go, resting Smith while introducing Jayden Wareham. Smith had given Reading real presence up front, acting as an effective focal point and integral part of the press, and Wareham couldn’t quite offer that.
Accordingly, Posh grew into the game a bit and started to create some chances. An incisive move down Reading’s right yielded a chance from a pull-back that Kwame Poku poked wide. Shortly after, Poku was set free by a long ball in behind Jeriel Dorsett, but he shot wide of the far post.
What Wareham could offer though was his own attacking threat, being part of a number of chances Reading had to kill the game late on. First he set Elliott up after darting to the byline and pulling the ball back, only for ‘keeper Nicholas Bilokapic to save with his feet, then he slammed a shot wide from the edge of the area, before later getting in behind and feeding Savage, only for the Welshman to drag his effort wide with his right foot. Wareham even tried his luck from the halfway line when he spotted Bilokapic off his line. You can’t fault his optimism.
Reading deserved a clean sheet for their defensive efforts, but couldn’t quite get one against the division’s second-top-scorers. Centre-half Emmanuel Fernandez of all people popped up in the final third with a couple of minutes to play, wasn’t picked up or held off well enough, and slammed a shot past Pereira at his near post.
After the nerves of watching Reading hold onto their 2-1 lead for the last few minutes (the referee opted to keep the game going beyond an already bizarrely long eight initially added), the relief of the full-time whistle.
London Road is not an easy place to come to, and certainly not an easy place to defend: across their last seven games at home in all competitions, Posh had netted a whopping 25 goals. Reading limited them to just one - almost to a clean sheet - and didn’t have to rely on a huge amount of luck or extraordinary shot-stopping from Pereira in the process.
The Royals weren’t completely flawless today and probably should have been more ruthless with their chances, but, to alter an old saying: don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the excellent. This was probably Reading’s best performance of the season all round, certainly away from home, and the fact that we’re able to achieve that despite Everything Going On In The Background makes me so hopeful for future.
Reading are eighth and level on points with fifth. Next up is another tough away game - a Tuesday night trip to sixth-placed Barnsley - but why shouldn’t we win that one too? Games like today’s should be the injection of confidence that this side has more than earned.
See you at Oakwell!
