FA Cup Match Report: Reading 1-0 vs. West Bromwich Albion
It was the star striker of Reading Shane Long, who once again became man of the hour as he scored the lone goal and thwarted the English Premier League (EPL) team, West Bromwich Albion.
The manager of Baggies, Roberto Di Matteo had to face defeat eventually as he was woken in the middle of his FA Cup dream. This also happened to be West Brom’s 6th consecutive defeat.
Long provided the decider just before half time when he produced a finish of finesse quality to take Reading 1 goal up and that proved to be enough until the end of the match. This also happened to be his 7th goal in
6 appearances; therefore, the in-form striker continues with his amazing run.
More trouble was recorded after the interval for West Brom’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jonas-c18967 Olsson, who got slapped with a red card in about quarter of an hour after two bookings.
Albion were already missing two of their main defenders on account of injuries hence the excuse of having their number 1 choice for keeping between the posts also prevailed. Boaz Myhill had the gloves instead of Scott Carson as
the dilemma that happened against Fulham at Craven Cottage was still remembered.
Nonetheless, West Brom have been facing problems in the Npower Championship since the beginning and the 41st minute goal did not come as surprise to many pundits. Noel Hunt was brilliant as he flicked the ball to Long,
who dribbled it impeccably and strode past Gianni Zuiverloon to place it past Myhill.
However, Albion did have their moments for scoring as Ishmael Miller went at it twice and then James Morrison struck the top of the framework. Nevertheless, one cannot take credit away from Reading as they earned a well-deserved
victory.
Their manager Brian McDermott has been superb tactically against top-notch teams. Just last season he was able to triumph over http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 and Burnley and now they have produced another impressive feat.
Long has been the keystone in this metamorphosis hence he is being offered contracts by various Premier League clubs. At the moment, West Ham United seem to be on top of this list.
Olsson was the man deserted by lady luck and that cost heavily for West Brom, as a poor touch from him on Long caused all the trouble. Referee Jon Moss had to make a simple decision, which asked Di Matteo to make an equally intelligent
one.
Towards the end of the match both teams were caught for playing poorly, thereby dropping the attack rate considerably. Reading, after an aggressive first half, also calmed down and their players developed a deeper midfield role,
slowly cutting the tempo of the game.
For Di Matteo, his next assessment will be to play their EPL home fixture against Blackpool, which will take place next Saturday, 15th January. On the other hand, McDermott and Co. wait royally for the round 4 of FA
Cup.
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