View Single Post
Old 04-20-2014, 12:04 AM   #337
NoSkillz
College Benchwarmer
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
Sat. February 4, 2023

Barclays Premier League
Reading (10-5-11, 35 points, 10th) vs. Dover (18-5-3, 59 points, 2nd)
The Madejski Stadium, Reading, UK

Betting Odds: Reading: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Dover: 13-8
Past Meetings: 7W 2D 2L

We have a solid career record against perennial continental contenders Reading. They have made it to the knockout stages of this year's Europa League but they'll be in tough to regain qualification for next year based on their league status unless they make a run in the FA Cup. They just lost a shocker to Derby at home so I expect they'll be playing with fire today. That said, two of their top three goal scorers are hurt and will miss the game: striker Hani Megahed (10 goals) and right midfielder Said Abdel Kader (9 goals) will not suit up but the ever-dangerous James Hunter and his 11 goals will be in the lineup.

We're fortunate to get Salim Loucif back today, as Algeria was eliminated from the African Nations event. However, Arsene Bamba's Ivory Coast squad continues to play in the competition and is still abroad with his national team. Paul Moses will start up front in place of the ice cold Shanon Andrea. Chiquinho is also back in the starting lineup after scoring as a substitute against Burnley. Helder Cruz will make his first league start today on the left side. Despite being slight underdogs on the road, I'll go with a positive gameplan today and use our control mentality.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, M. Yilmaz, C. Contreras, S. Loucif
M - H. Cruz, N. Cairney, E. Harvey, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses, Chiquinho
Bench - K. Zagos, C. Guzman, S. Spall, L. Kunchev, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, S. Andrea

Reading are in a 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) formation with one striker (James Hunter). Antonio is in goal. I tell the team to put on a good performance for our travelling supporters today.

2' - Moses gets a great chance early, driving a low shot at goal from just inside the area but Antonio makes the save.

10' - Reading send a long ball up to Hunter and Salim Loucif drags him down. Easy yellow card there. Their dangerous midfielder James Gregan, a guy I've looked at in the past, drives the free kick off the crossbar!

13' - Cairney with a free kick just left of the penalty area and he feeds it into an unmarked Claudio Contreras, who drives a low shot at goal that's stopped brilliantly by Antonio!

18' - Reading work a gorgeous three-way pass play, culminating in James Hunter sending a beautiful back heel pass into the area to Cees Duarte and he is all alone and makes no mistake putting it past Wilke and in. Great goal by Reading and we're down. READING GOAL 0-1

31' - We're not used to being down and we're not playing well. Helder Cruz isn't paying attention to a Renato Gaucho pass and the ball comes back our way. Veteran midfielder Jordan Henderson dribbles in and shoots but it's right at Wilke.

40' - We have possession at midfield and we move it around to Emmerson Harvey. He sends a little pass to Paul Moses and the 19 year old shows his ridiculous skill to get past Paul McLaughlin and Irish international Mark O'Brien and he slots the ball into the far corner for the equalizer. "Magical stuff from Moses!", shouts the announcer. Filthy! DOVER GOAL 1-1

43' - Cairney with a corner and it's headed toward goal by Mohamed Lamine Yilmaz but Antonio is in good position to make the save.

44' - Gregan gets a shot off from just inside the area off a scramble and Wilke makes the stop.

HALFTIME - We knew this would be a tight contest. We hold 55% of possession and an 8-7 (4-3 on target) shot advantage. Claudio Contreras (6.0) and Helder Cruz (6.1) are having rough games so far. I tell the team I'm pleased and tell Cruz I have faith in his ability while also telling Moses I'm delighted with his impact so far.

49' - We have a corner and the ball is headed out to Emmerson Harvey, who drives one at goal only to have Antonio deflect it over.

57' - Neil Cairney is taken down hard by Gregan and needs medical attention. He should be okay but he's on the sidelines when Contreras takes down James Hunter. Yellow card for Contreras.

58' - Moses is in fine form today, sprinting through the defence once again and his hard shot is stopped by Antonio.

60' - Magaye Gueye, the Reading right midfielder, gets past Renato Gaucho and cuts in toward goal but his shot is stopped by Wilke! Great save there!

71' - Boy is Gregan dangerous, as he sends a long curling blast from way out that's destined for the top corner but Wilke dives headlong to make the spectacular stop! Reading get a corner and the ball is headed toward goal. Wilke makes a save but there is a rebound and a mad scramble but we clear it to safety. Sheesh!

75' - I make a double substitution, as the ineffective Gianluca Bolis makes way for Graham Allan. I also take out a tired Emmerson Harvey and bring in Zoltan Bardi to play midfield.

80' - Salim Loucif tries flopping to draw a foul call at midfield but the ref lets play go on. Reading start a counter attack and feed a long ball up to Hunter. Their leading scorer is in with a shot and Wilke makes the fantastic save to keep us tied!

86' - The excellent Moses is taken off, as he's gassed and I bring in Shaun Spall. Bardi moves up to striker and Spall is in midfield.

88' - Reading have possession deep in our end and Salim Loucif tackles the ball away from one of their attackers but the ball squirts into the middle and right to Cees Duarte. The Reading goal scorer evades Yilmaz, walks right in and roofs a shot past Wilke and we give up a devastating late goal. READING GOAL 1-2

We move to an overload mentality but can't get anything going. Tough loss.

Reading 2 - 1 Dover
Goals - Paul Moses (8.3)
Assists - Emmerson Harvey (6.9)
Man of the Match - Cees Duarte (Reading AMC - 8.8)
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (7.4), Salim Loucif (7.1), Claudio Contreras (5.8), Renato Gaucho (5.9)
Attendance - 16,660

We held 53% of overall possession and outshot them 16-14 (7-8 on target). Rough games for a couple of our defenders but it was a fluky bounce on that last minute Reading goal and we pay the price. Rough games for Contreras, Renato Gaucho and Gianluca Bolis.

-- All of our key rivals win. Chelsea move six points up on us after defeating Birmingham, Arsenal, Man United and Man City also win. United move ahead of us on the table and it's truly ridiculous how top heavy things are, with only two points separating second from fifth.

-- Reading end our superlative unbeaten streak. Oh well, time to start another one!


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 27 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Chelsea - 65 points
2. Manchester United - 60 points
3. Dover - 59 points
4. Manchester City - 58 points
----------------------------------------------------
5. Arsenal - 58 points
6. Sheffield Wednesday - 49 points
7. Sunderland - 44 points
----------------------------------------------------



Dover U18 Update

--The kids win 2-1 over Reading's U18 club. Young striker Ben Patterson scored both of our goals.



Injury Update

-- DC Daniel Traore returns to full training after missing six weeks due to strained knee ligaments. We have a reserves game coming up in a couple of days so he should be good to go for that contest as he attempts to regain match fitness.

-- Gian Marco Fanfoni also returns after getting over his viral issues.

-- Andrea Rocca and Steve Reed are about two weeks away from returning to full training while Rayane Hamon and Mancini remain on the long-term injury list.

-- Emmerson Harvey gets hurt while playing for England's U21 club, suffering a bruised thigh. He'll miss about a week.



Reserves Team Update

-- With half of our squad away on international duty, our reserves team earns a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa's Reserve Team. The returning Daniel Traore headed one home and young striker Ben Patterson scored on a penalty to bring us to level terms late in the game.



Injury Update

-- Bad luck follows Kostas Zagos. He just returned to action and gets hurt in his first game back for England, sustaining a gashed leg. He'll miss another week.



International Round Up

-- Gaining caps for their country were Paul Moses and Emmerson Harvey (England U21), Kostas Zagos (England), Zoltan Bardi (Hungary), Chiquinho (Belgium), Manuel Perez (Mexico), Lyubomir Kunchev (Bulgaria), Neil Cairney and Graham Allan (Scotland).

-- That was Lyubomir Kunchev's first ever senior cap for Bulgaria, a great honour for the 18 year old!



Next Up

-- We finally head home after a four-game road trip, with a Premier League matchup against Aston Villa.

Last edited by NoSkillz : 04-20-2014 at 12:06 AM.
NoSkillz is offline   Reply With Quote