There was more disappointment for Reading fans on Tuesday night as the Royals conceded a late goal at Nottingham Forest to leave with just a single point. The Royals looked to be heading for only their second victory in 12 league games until Forest, also in a run of very poor form, equalised with five minutes left to play.
Reading had looked impressive in the opening half and deserved their half time lead after the excellent Omar Richards put Reading ahead with his first senior goal for the club on 35 minutes. After the break it was a different story as Reading faded and the home side looked likely to pull level as the pressure increased. Mannone was in fine form in goal for the Royals, but after Forest forced some saves and also hit the crossbar, the goal eventually came with five minutes left to play.
Despite dropping two points late on Royals boss Jaap Stam was pleased with the point and the performance: "The team worked very hard and the players did their best. It was important to get something out of the game, though we would have liked to have had more." The 1-1 draw sees the Royals remain in 18th place in the Championship table and just four points away from the bottom three.
Although there were definitely more positive signs earlier in the game and the emergence of Omar Richards continues to be a bonus, Reading remain deep in relegation trouble with the next 3 games all against teams in the top seven. Reading face Derby at home on Saturday, followed by Sheffield United also at the Madejski Stadium, before heading to run away leaders Wolves. Even without our current disastrous run of form we may have struggled to pick up any points in these games. Stam and his team will have to avoid three straight defeats or Reading may find themselves in the bottom three or marginally outside, and surely it will past the tipping point for Jaap Stam.
Late Forest Goal As Royals Fail To Win Again
From the Discussion
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KI Kitsondinho 20 Feb 2018 · 11:50pm
Decent result overall, excellent first half which we fully deserved to go in 1-0 up. With Aluko playing in the revolutionary position of ‘out wide’, we had width on both sides (with Barrow supported by the mostly excellent Richards on the left). Martin held the ball up well (even if he did miss a fairly decent chance....) 2nd half we looked panicked and scared. We resorted to trying far too hard to play it quickly, which just gave it back to Forest. They totally dominated the ball and the chances. They had numerous chances to score before Tomlin (who else :roll: ) finally put us out of our misery. The fact he should have been sent…
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CO CountryRoyal 21 Feb 2018 · 12:13am
I wouldn't call the first half "excellent". We edged it but I'd say based on the second half that was more because Forest sat off. Overall a pretty poor game between two pretty poor sides. Aluko is a horrible footballer. That's all.
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WR Woodcote Royal 21 Feb 2018 · 12:24am
Finally, it was so sad to see GMac be a passenger as a sub.....he never looked liked doing anything useful and the game completely passed him by. Quite. We all love GMac but he's been a shadow of his former self for at least a year now. Add to this to the fact that Aluko rarely looks worth 7 million pennies let alone pounds and it simply beggars belief that both Beerens and Popa were deemed surplus to requirement and disposed of. When decisions like this are made by managers who are allowed to keep their jobs, it's time to realise the writing is on the wall. Respect to all those who went.
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JR JR 21 Feb 2018 · 12:50am
Finally, it was so sad to see GMac be a passenger as a sub.....he never looked liked doing anything useful and the game completely passed him by. Quite. We all love GMac but he's been a shadow of his former self for at least a year now. Add to this to the fact that Aluko rarely looks worth 7 million pennies let alone pounds and it simply beggars belief that both Beerens and Popa were deemed surplus to requirement and disposed of. When decisions like this are made by managers who are allowed to keep their jobs, it's time to realise the writing is on the wall. Respect to all those who went. You lost all respect when you mentioned…
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HO Hound 21 Feb 2018 · 6:51am
OP seems a fairer reflection of the game than a lot on the other thread 2 points dropped being as we were 1 up, but Forest would have felt hard done by if they’d lost I thought we looked a lot more positive and aggressive. Obvs we were far from perfect, the passing was poor at times, but not a disaster
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DE Delboy 21 Feb 2018 · 6:57am
8 home games 6 away left we need to improve at home to stay up !
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LE leon 21 Feb 2018 · 7:41am
OP seems a fairer reflection of the game than a lot on the other thread 2 points dropped being as we were 1 up, but Forest would have felt hard done by if they’d lost I thought we looked a lot more positive and aggressive. Obvs we were far from perfect, the passing was poor at times, but not a disaster Second half was embarrassing.
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HO Hound 21 Feb 2018 · 8:48am
I didn't think it was embarrassing - Forest played ok, despite what the noise is on here. They passed it crisply and pressed us hard. We didn't cope especially well, but they kept battling and on the basis of the first half performance prob deserved a point I've seen some utterly abysmal performances this season - Hull, Boro, Burton, Brum etc - this wasn't like that