The Royals are good collectively, with a few exceptional performers, in a comfortable home win over Cambridge.
Hardly called upon throughout the game and eventually made his first real save in the 52nd minute, getting two hands behind a powerful effort that changed direction in the air.
Mostly in control with his distribution today, but with Reading having two thirds of possession, he very rarely had to go long.
Reading had a lot of the ball today, with Craig getting a way-above-average 88 touches, being involved everywhere in possession. He was often moved into the middle of the field when Wing wanted to play out right, but Craig was also capable of working with Elliott and Campbell deep on the right wing.
Earned a corner for Reading with a blocked cross in the opening 15 minutes. Stayed in control defensively as well, outside of one mistake in the second half. Still developing his abilities in the final third but fantastic at playing the ball into it tonight, ending with 11 final-third deliveries.
Dominant defensively when he needed to be, winning over 7% of his duels. Did most of his work in possession as Reading controlled large swathes of the first half. Gave away the ball poorly at one point to give Cambridge one of their only attacks, but showed great speed to get back and poke the ball away.
Almost found himself caught out as the last man back after Reading were already 3-0 up, but did enough recovery running to get himself fouled and stop the play. To be fair to Mbengue, it’s hard to look like a pinpoint passer when you’re surrounded by players like Wing and Bindon, but he slightly lagged their accuracy numbers.
Helped Reading take control of possession early on with his calm play at the back. So calm that, at one point, he allowed a Cambridge attacker to follow him all the way into the six-yard box before eventually finding Pereira well outside of his goalmouth.
Great at standing behind a striker as the ball comes over the top, and subtly bumping him enough to ensure he ends up underneath the flight of the ball. Overall small touches like that speak to a player growing in maturity.
With a lot of the play happening in the Cambridge half, and through the middle or the right side, Dorsett wasn’t able to get as involved as some, picking up 20 fewer touches than Craig on the other side. He was solid when called upon defensively though, and generally does a good job of providing defensive layers when Reading are trying to dominate possession.
Met a vicious whipped cross from ChemCampbell at the near post, but couldn’t quite direct the ball the right side of the post.
At his best no matter where he was on the field tonight, with 130 touches against a Cambridge team that gave him way too much space from the off.
Dictated one nice move around the edge of the box as Reading probed in a sequence that led to an Elliott shot. Played a fantastic through ball along the floor from the centre circle to give Smith a tough angled chance. That proved to be just a few of many chances created by Wing tonight.
Opened the second half by putting the game to bed, scoring two from almost the same spot on the pitch. There are no words left to say about how wonderful a long shooter Wing is, but hitting the opposite corners (first the bottom left and then the top right) within 15 minutes is taking the mickey, even from him.
A night when Wing was at his best, but was also allowed to be at his best by poor opposition.
Got a decent shot off in space early on, but couldn’t do more than put it right at the ‘keeper. Became really active midway through the first half, creating but also doing his work defensively when the ball was on the edge of Reading’s box. At one point he lingered on the ball too long but commendably got back to retrieve the ball moments later.
Threaded a ball through for Smith that deserved to be an assist, pulling apart the stitches of a jagged Cambridge backline during a counter-attack.
Exceptional in the buildup for Camara’s goal, sitting down or sliding past several Cambridge players on his way to putting the winger into space to turn and finish.
That would prove to be the first in a three-assist haul tonight, though it’s admittedly easier to pick up assists when your teammate can whack them in from well outside of the box.
Saw more of the play go down the right side tonight, so called upon less than Elliott, but really solid and technical on the ball when he was on it. Given a decent opportunity to shoot in the first half by a Smith knockdown. Got good power on it but put it just over.
Set free out wide on the left early in the second half and put in a lovely cross that deserved more effort from those in the box.
Changed the game against Harborough Town, but was forced to play more than 70 minutes on Sunday, so withdrawn early in the second half.
Really alert in the early stages. Did his early defensive duties, helping Reading clear the ball away from a corner. Helped get Reading out of some tight jams in midfield when passes weren’t 100% accurate with his fast footwork.
Continued to cause Cambridge serious issues with his running, creating two chances for Reading with turns that caught the defence out. Put one cross hard onto Dorsett’s head and was unlucky the redirect wasn’t inside the post.
Shortly after, invited to advanced on the box, Campbell pulled the ball onto his left foot and put a great strike on net, forcing a good save from the keeper.
Won the ball back for the sequence that led to Camara’s goal, challenging for and coming away with the ball in the Cambridge half before quickly putting it through for Elliott.
Overall, another good performance. You’d like to see Campbell win a few more challenges, but he does often seem to win the ones that matter.
Made space for himself to run into the seam against Michael Morrison early on, latching onto a through ball from Wing to get free for a tough angled chance.
Managed to get onto two more Wing balls forward after that, flicking one towards the net and earning a corner, before teeing up another opportunity for Savage from a knockdown.
Got himself into the seam and almost in behind really well just after the half-hour mark, but couldn’t get enough power onto his curling shot.
Involved in the hold-up play for the Wing opener, keeping the Cambridge centre-backs away from the ball as it arrived to allow the central midfielders to catch up.
A textbook Smith night when he did a lot without showing up on the scoresheet, especially in the first half, but would have liked to put away his chance to score in the first half.
Didn’t get as many chances on the ball as the right-sided players, but used it well when he had it. Very accurate in the short game even when high up the pitch.
Booked in the opening 10 minutes when he missed the ball and got the man on a midfield challenge. Definitely still learning the defensive side of the game.
Took his goal really well, patiently sitting down his defender before putting the ball high into the corner where the ‘keeper had no chance.
Came on shortly before Wing won the game for Reading, and so was perfectly solid but didn’t have to be switched on for too long. Still won a majority of his challenges of course and his running in a crucial period of the game helped to take the steam out of Cambridge’s legs and return the ball to the waiting Reading backline.
After misplacing the pass leading to the corner from which Harborough Town almost won the game on Sunday, I’m just happy that Dean posted 100% passing accuracy.
Helped Reading clear out a few balls and see out the clean sheet, but somehow managed to commit two fouls in the 5 minutes he was on the field.
Came on to help Reading see out the final minutes and helped press out from corners.
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