[NoSkillz]

Sat. November 7, 2020

Barclays Premier League
Dover (6-0-4, 18 points, 5th) vs. Reading (6-1-2, 19 points, 4th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 4-1 Draw: 5-2 Reading: 4-7 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 2W 1D 2L

Interestingly enough, we are bigger dogs versus Reading than we were against Man United, despite having some decent historical success, with a .500 record in five previous games. Reading are fourth in the table with one less game played and they already have wins this year against United and Arsenal, amongst others. In this dynasty, Reading promoted up from the Championship after the 2010-11 season and they've remained in the top flight ever since. Their first three years in the Premier League were spent barely avoiding relegation but in recent years, they've shown great consistency, finishing just outside of continental play in five of the past six years. They've had four 9th place finishes in a row, quite a statistic!

Their top player by value is right fullback Patson Seleman, a Tanzanian international who was just purchased this year from Sheffield Wednesday for £9m. Their most dangerous player is 23 year old Egyptian striker Hani Megahed, a clinical finisher with great speed. He's only scored once in five league games though and is still recovering from an ankle injury. I may just avoid him but there's a chance he'll be on their bench at the very least.

My scouts don't have an awful lot on Reading but I've had success against them using multiple formations. I'm going to stick with the flat 4-4-2 that helped us dominate possession against United last week. I'll be throwing Lukasz Fabianski in net for the first time in league play this year. Arsene Bamba will return at left midfield and captain Darren Pratley will start for the first time this year in the midfield, as Andrea Rocca won't be ready to play today due to injury. Zoltan Bardi is back in at striker alongside Gesios.

One other interesting tidbit on Reading. Their new manager is Lee Clark - if you recall, Clark was my new chairman's personal pick to take over my job when he bought the team. Thankfully, I was kept aboard and Clark caught on with Reading. Clark comes out in the press before the match to say how much he dislikes me (or something to that effect) and I just ignore the comment. I'm not big on "mind games" in this career, as it seems to hurt my players more than help.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - L. Fabianski
D - R. Gaucho, C. Rodriguez, P. Tjiuoro, J. Kuciak
M - A. Bamba, D. Pratley, N. Cairney, G. Bolis
S - G. Gesios, Z. Bardi
Bench - T. Andersen, O. Nicholas, Mancini, C. Murray, P. Kostal, G. Escobar, P. Simek

Surprisingly, Reading decide to start a recovering Megahed up front. There doesn't look to be any way he can play a full game but perhaps they hope he can score a goal before half or something. I tell the team to tackle him hard, hopefully to knock him off his game. Reading are in a flat 4-4-2, just like us. I tell the team they can win today and pull aside Fabianski, Bolis and Bamba for some individual words.

10' - Gianluca Bolis dribbles down the right side, cuts into the box and hits a hard, wrong footed shot just wide. Pretty good chance!

13' - This time it's Giorgos Gesios penetrating the box and left-footing it into the side netting.

35' - Not an awful lot of action, other than a few corners. Reading get a free kick from their side of half and send a direct ball toward our zone. Jozef Kuciak heads it to centre field and Bardi is there to head it forward into space. Gesios uses his blazing speed to beat the defender to the ball and the Reading keeper is out of position in no mans land. Gesios makes the clinical finish and we take the lead! DOVER GOAL 1-0

38' - Gesios is hurt on a challenge. He can continue but I'll have to monitor his fitness at halftime.

HALFTIME - A dull half, with few offensive chances on both sides but we'll take it. We lead in possession 56-44 and in shots 4-3 (1-0 on target). I tell the team I'm pleased and I don't make any adjustments for now. Gesios seems to be okay so I'll keep him in.

50' - They work a counter attack and it's their captain, left midfielder Lallana who cuts in past Kuciak and just misses wide from 15 yards. On the ensuing goal kick, they head the ball back up field and it's Megahed, still in the game, who beats Fabianski to the ball and puts it into the open net. But wait, the flag is up! Offsides! Whew!

52' - All of a sudden it's all Reading. Again, it's Megahed who takes a beautiful through ball and is in all alone but Fabianski is there to make the key stop!

55' - We get a free kick from distance and Neil Cairney throws a brilliant ball into the area but Cristian Rodriguez's header just goes wide.

61' - We win a throw in and the ball comes to Pratley. He makes a little touch pass to Cairney and he immediately sends an excellent ball into the left side of the area to Gesios. The defenders think he's offside but the flag stays down and Gesios takes a few steps and sends a vicious ball into the lower lefthand corner of the net. Gesios bags his brace and we're up two! DOVER GOAL 2-0

62' - We take out Pratley and bring in defensive minded midfielder Mancini in his place.

63' - They work the ball upfield on the ensuing kickoff and Paulus Tjiuoro takes down striker James Hunter for the hard foul. Yellow card for Tjiuoro. Hunter takes the free kick and it curls just wide.

66' - We work a counter attack and Gesios sends a lovely ball up to Bardi. He has a poor angle going down the right side but he forces the keeper to make a tough stop on a hard shot.

68' - Renato Gaucho gets called on a ticky tacky play and the ensuing free kick from distance is headed toward the goal but a diving Fabianski gobbles it up and holds on. Later, after Fabianski puts the ball back into play, Gesios brings down a Reading defender and is given a yellow card.

72 - I switch to a counter attacking philosophy and I take out the excellent Giorgos Gesios and bring in Gerardo Escobar up front.

84' - Off a throw in, Escobar gets the ball and sends a wicked ball through to Bardi. He gets off a left footed blast that's saved and held by Reading keeper Federici.

They get a couple of chances from distance but that's it! Great result!

Dover 2 - 0 Reading
Goals - Giorgos Gesios 2 (8.8)
Assists - Neil Cairney (7.0), Zoltan Bardi (6.9)
Man of the Match - Giorgos Gesios
Other Dover Notables - Jozef Kuciak (7.1), Paulus Tjiuoro (7.0), Cristian Rodriguez (7.6), Renato Gaucho (7.7)
Attendance - 9135 (Sellout)

A deserved victory over a tough side that was heavily favoured, again proving we're onto something with our roster and our tactics. We edge them on possession 52-48 and outshoot them 11-9 (5-3 on target). Their dangerous striker Hani Megahed lasted 74 ineffective minutes, getting a 5.9 rating. Not a good decision to start him when he was obviously unfit.

-- After the Sunday slate of games, we see ourselves move up two places on the table to 3rd, 8 points behind runaway leaders Man City, with United 3 points ahead of us. City continued their torrid stretch, winning 4-0 over Sheffield Wednesday for their 11th win in a row across all competitions. In fact, they haven't lost in 19 games, with their only loss of the season being the Community Shield, where they dropped a 3-1 decision to Arsenal.

-- Just one further note about our superlative striker Giorgos Gesios. Again, if you recall, we bought him for the ridiculous sum of £14,250,000 last year from Arsenal and he had a tough time adjusting to life at Dover, scoring 9 goals and adding 3 assists in 25 league games. This year? How about 10 goals through his first 9 games, along with two assists - he's proving to be worth the considerable outlay! Gesios is currently 3rd in Premier League scoring, behind Enrique's 12 for Man City and Everton's Ekow Mumuni has 11.



Next Up

-- We're right back in action four days later, with a midweek trip to the Riverside Stadium to visit Middlesbrough.