Reading’s star boy Tyler Bindon puts on a masterclass to help see out a dominant 2024 at home.
Made his strangest contribution of the day when he arrived 10 yards inside of the Mansfield Town half from a Reading free-kick, helping Savage to re-position the ball. That perhaps spoke to how little Pereira had to do: with Mansfield’s crosses generally going outside of the six-yard box, Pereira ended the day with just one save and two punches.
Made a valiant effort at the Evans goal at the end of the first half, flying through the air, but not getting far enough to stop the admittedly impressive headed effort.
Alert in the final 15 minutes, first sliding out to clean up a ball in behind from Mansfield, and then making his only save from a powerful shot.
Really alert in the first half and had the pace to keep up with the players he was marking today, meaning he was able to make some impressive physical plays in the opening stages, reaching a ball first before holding off the opposition.
Made an excellent sliding tackle while retreating into his own box, able to steal the ball away without conceding a penalty. Defensively then, very solid, but Craig was sloppier with the ball at his feet, misplacing a lot of passes in the first half.
Had to drop deeper and deeper in the second half, but continued to do his job defensively, winning six of his seven defensive duels.
Made an absolutely fantastic block to somehow get to a crossing target just as it reached them, preventing a sure goal. Made more impressive by the fact that he did it two minutes after being hit in the stones.
Chose to step back rather than attacking the ball for Mansfield’s goal late in the first half. Perhaps Mbengue thought Evans was too far away from the net to try to the first time header, but unfortunately that meant he allowed Evans ample space.
Booked in the second half when he got his challenge wrong and had to drag back his attacker.
Made a goal-saving challenge in injury time when he threw himself to the ground in front of a Mansfield attacker in full flight.
Did well to get his head onto a tough delivery into the box in the early stages, and has become Mbengue’s go-to target on attacking long throws. One of the only players able to win 50% of his aerial duels in a first half that saw Mansfield win 60% of the duels overall.
Produced a cheeky Cryuff turn when he was the last man to outfox his presser, before striding forward and finding Camara wide in the Mansfield defensive third.
Though it had been ruled out already for offside, Bindon made an absolutely fantastic goal-line clearance around the half-hour mark, with Pereira congratulating him for his efforts.
Scored a scintillating goal to put Reading back in front just before the hour mark. With the ball coming back out from a set piece, Bindon was in his usual recycling spot, but forwent anybody else’s involvement, gyrating in the air to score with an impressive bicycle kick.
Went right back to his defensive duties, sliding in to clear away a dangerous cross shortly after his goal.
Bindon so often buys Reading players an extra second on the ball by getting an attacker to jump onto him before he passes, and it’s a quality Reading will hugely miss if Bindon leaves in January.
Gets himself involved physically when a team is throwing itself at Reading, and does well not to be drawn towards the ball at times. Kanu made an important block and cleared the ball out four times in the first half alone.
Kanu was often drifting pretty far inside the field, helping Reading show a compact set of three defenders when Craig was caught up the field. In that way, he’s a more similar left-back option to Jeriel Dorsett than he is Andre Garcia, acting as an elbow back.
Getting out wider was more of an issue as Kanu struggled with Mansfield’s wide formation. Got out too late to contest the ball into the box that lead to the equaliser.
Showed that he can push forward when he ran into space on the left side and earned Evans a yellow card when he was scythed down. Withdrawn in the last 10 minutes.
Started brightly after his good Boxing Day display. Tried an early shot with the outside of his foot that careened wide, but did admittedly go close to the large space in his net the goalkeeper had left open.
Picked up yet another assist just 17 minutes into the game. With the ball falling to him in the early scrambles after a counter-attack, Wing faked to take the long chipped shot over the ‘keeper to draw attention, before instead sliding Camara in for a one-on-one chance.
Faded after that, and is undoubtedly tired. Touched the ball around half as much as he usually does as Mansfield dominated possession.
Had to spend almost the entire first half chasing and defending, helping Reading keep Mansfield’s shots to less dangerous areas.
Did really well at the start of the second half to wriggle his way out of the box with the ball at his feet and earn a free-kick when Reading were struggling.
Spent a large part of his day arguing with the referee, but that is a fact of life when you’re constantly making challenges. Knibbs attempted 27 today, far more than any other Reading player.
Ripped a lovely second-half volley towards the Mansfield net when the ball dropped out of the sky in front of him, putting it just wide.
Cleared balls well out of the box when Mansfield were shelling it late in the game, eventually ending the day with four clearances.
Very quiet today, and is suffering from Reading’s less potent left-sided threats in front of him, but also could be doing more. Savage attempted 19 fewer challenges than Knibbs today, and won just 25% of his duels.
Struggled to get into the game in the first half, with Mansfield’s back-three system causing a logjam in the space that Campbell usually likes to run into. Campbell lost the ball with half of his touches before the break.
Went down hurt early in the second half but was able to get back up and continue. Tried to get more involved as Reading came into the game more in the final half hour, and made a few jaunts down the right side.
Made a fantastic contribution in the dying seconds of the game, when he received a ball forward and calmly held onto it until he was dragged down, bleeding half a minute off the clock. A minute later he won the ball back well to ice the game and cap an impressive 2024 at home for Reading.
Did well to help the ball on in the build-up for the Reading opener, finding a nice flick with a man on his back. Very quiet in the first half overall though, and reduced to chasing Mansfield’s defenders before seeing it go over his head.
Able to put a first shot on goal from Wing’s early free-kick in the second half, but in double coverage he could only tamely head it into the keeper’s arms.
Helped win the ball back for Reading in the attacking third a few times, once doing so to let Wing to take a rip at goal.
Looked to be dangerous early on, sliding a ball into space in behind for Smith but not quite catching his run.
Did really well for his goal, drifting into a small pocket of space that made him a target for Wing, and gave him the small bit of time he needed to find a comprehensive finish.
Got a little sloppy again after his goal, with the worst being a loose pass to Savage when trying to build up that led to Reading conceding a corner. Couldn’t find a cross into the box after some tidy play with Savage in the second half.
Withdrawn for Jayden Wareham late on without having made a significant second-half contribution.
Did incredibly well to drive Reading all the way from their box to Mansfield’s shortly after coming on. Garcia bravely stuck his head in to clear the box before sprinting past the midfield and winning his opponent a yellow card.
Made himself a pain in the arse on the left side after replacing Camara. Cleared a few balls up high for Smith to chase, and made the right centre-back for Mansfield turn and play back towards goal when they wanted to attack. That all happened within two minutes, after which things turned for the worse.
Sloppily gave it away in Reading’s third, allowing a shot across goal that Pereira had to deal with, and a corner. He was then booked for challenging with his arm first when the ball was eventually cleared out from that sequence.
Brought on for Smith in the final minute of the game to try to help Reading see things out. Dean was sent on during a sequence of corners, and eventually was the player to see it out. Making himself useful as a closer for Reading in recent weeks.
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