Al Habsi Penalty Save Secures Win Over Fulham

That was a well deserved win on a freezing night. First half I thought we were pretty poor with a new 5-3-2 formation to match Fulham, they looked a lot better team than us and I think we were lucky to get to half time 0-0. GMac missed a tap in from a yard but I think he was offside. otherwise we offered no threat and just tried to nullify Fulham.
Second half we got a break, I'm not sure how much of a pen it was, and we've now missed 7 out of the last 10 (but scored 9), but that gave us a lot confidence and should of scored 2 or 3 more. Gmac hit the bar and both him and Beerens were wasteful on breakaways.
Fulham never really threatened until their pen, and AAH saved us again.
I'd of liked to have seen Samuel on for Swift rather than Kermo for Kelly - who had another good game - but otherwise I think Stam's subs were ok

Are we the worst team in the FL on penalties ... at least we score on the rebound, but missing that many penalties is absurd.

Fulham have missed 23 penalties this season.

The BBC site says Fulham have missed 7 in 9, so they are worse than us :lol:

Well apparently Fulham ... they've missed 7 penalties this season. They need to practice the rebound ...

Well that was fun :D

2 awful pens
Was really intrigued by not having a striker, but we played with a lot of zip and purpose looking to get our front 3 in behind. Turns out we looked a lot more dangerous. Swift and Kelly played a lot of lovely balls around the corner to each other. Really good to see the team defending from the front and doing to Fulham what other teams have been doing to us (pressuring us into making mistakes)
If only Williams had a bit more speed of thought (and feet) when in the oppo box, as otherwise I thought he was imperious tonight. He was everywhere, hassling, hurrying, driving forward.
Really not sure on the thinking behind taking off Blackett (who was getting skinned by Fredericks at will) and replacing him with an even slower defender :? . I'd also have been tempted to take off McCleary as he was blowing out his arse the last 15min
Anyway, I'm all for this new style of lower possession, higher intensity football....
LOL at the Fulham handball at the end :lol: :lol: :lol:

I thoroughly enjoyed that. Of the 5 halfs I've watched us play against Fulham this year, the 5th was the best.
Chris Martin lost that for them as much as any of our guys won it for us. His body language was awful, and he looked rusty, jaded and unfit.
Fair fukcs to Stam, he finally worked them out to an extent.
McShane was very good but almost talked himself into a red card more than once.
Al-Habsi was obviously the hero, but a mix of the Fulham press and his recent mistakes gave him no confidence with his short pass. Hopefully 10,000+ people chanting his name will sort that.
I don't think that Stam wanted to use Ilori as a wing back but had no choice as Blackett was so godawful. The rest of the team wouldn't pass to him and he just seemed to give up 2 minutes in when the crowd got on his back a bit.
He faded a bit but Beerens was back to his old mercurial self that we saw early in the season again.
Cold, but enjoyable night out and a decent 3 points.

Aside from being poor defensively, Blackett was taken off because he picked up a knock. Tiago's performance showed plenty of promise.
Kelly was phenomenal to watch, and Swift was back to his elegant self.
Beerens had his best game for quite a while, and McCleary looked good in a position he was clearly not used to.
McShane, JVDB and Moore were all superb.
Very, very happy with that result, it could turn out to be a big win.

Great to beat one of our bogey teams in what I thought was an entertaining game . I think we got away with a result as Fulham looked very dangerous attacking especially with their full backs who roasted our full backs ! God do we need a striker . As for Asabi .....I just presumed they'd score......was like a last minute winner when he saved it.....great three points which sees us again unbelievably third .....us third !

Stam altered the starting line up to counter Fulhams attacking threat and it worked well on the whole. Kelly and Swift will make a formidable partnership in time. Roll on Cardiff.

That felt like a watershed moment of a game. Time to kick on.

fixed

It was a tale of two soft penalties! We do what we nearly always do and scored on the rebound and Fulham did what they nearly always do and missed. Or, maybe more accurately, had their attempt saved by AAH.
Well done to Stam. His strange line-up made us tighter at the back and he had us harrying them and giving them no time on the ball. That's the sort of tactics that can upset us and we do play a similar style of game to Fulham.
The first half was pretty even with us probably just shading it. The second half was more open, more exciting and more frustrating as both sides made stupid errors. For the record, my Fulham supporting mate (who was with me at the game) was very impressed with Kelly and also thought Blackett had a good game. It looked as if we had JVD and Blackett trying to keep Fredericks quiet and, to a certain extent, that worked. In fact I don't think any Reading player had a bad game but Swift is not yet back to his best although he showed some nice touches. Williams had a good game, I thought, and certainly worked hard throughout the game.
We should have been 2 or 3 up before their penalty but, in the end, it was a welcome win and clean sheet. And back to 3rd!!

:shock:
Blackett was atrocious. Skinned time and time again, how many times did they reach that byline and put a ball in? Luckily Martin's finishing was equally dreadful.

Strange game and odd atmosphere. Felt like no one could be arsed to be there for a lot of the time, I know I wasn't particularly on form.
Thought we edged it but dissapointed with our wastefulness. Standard reading performance this season, a lot of nice play without being overly clinical. Still slow it down too much at times. Fulham were awful first half.
Al-Habsi 9 MOTM - probably an inflated rating and harsh on Kelly but won it for us with the save. More composed with his kicks today and dealt well with what he had to do.
Gunter 5 - soft, wrong decisions constantly, doesn't know when to hoof and seemingly doesn't have the awareness to see the obvious ball. Didn't go with his runner on numerous occasions, presses a lost cause and then caught out of position. Yes he's a runner and an athlete... blah blah, what's the point when he doesn't stop crosses and can't put one in the box down the other end. I'd like to see Watson get a game tbh.
McShane 7 - struggled a couple of times against a tricky Aluko but by and large a commanding performance.
Moore 7 - not flawless, but another solid display.
Blackett 6 - struggled with the pace of Fredericks (who wouldn't) but did what he could, felt he could have had more help. Frustrating at times, he should have just stayed a couple of yards on the other side and given him loads of room to cut inside - which he never would have done. Too many crosses came in which fortunately lead to nothing.
VDB 6 - standard Joey. Some decent break up at times, but at times technically inept.
Kelly 9 - as it stands, he's our best player at the moment, looks so composed, is graceful on the ball, has tremendous vision and a fantastic pass, I love watching him. The tenacity he shows to get back and defend and drop into space to pick up loose balls is great to see as well.
Williams 6 - a lot of driving runs but there is half the problem. Wants to run out with the ball all the time and takes too long to pass (if he ever does), sometimes it works out and we win a free kick but it's risky and unnecessary. Still can't shoot for shit.
Swift 6 - moments of brilliance and moments of mediocrity, still not quite there. Missed the penalty.
McCleary 8 - what a shift he put in, at times made the wrong decision and also guilty of slowing the play down, unlucky with the curling shot.
Beerens 7 - thought he played well on his return to the side overall. Good following up for the rebound and good skill shown at times. Wish he had more pace and his delivery is pretty poor.
Absolutely delighted with the win, might be best 3 points of the season for me. I quite enjoyed watching Fulham's passing game at the back, I guess that's what teams enjoy when they play us?
Oh but we had less possession. Booo. Stam out.

:shock:
Blackett was atrocious. Skinned time and time again, how many times did they reach that byline and put a ball in? Luckily Martin's finishing was equally dreadful.

Twice I think. I don't think Blackett did too badly. I think he had a great first half. Especially in the opposition half of the pitch. Sat deeper & therefore faded and started to struggle with Fredericks in the second. Tbf the 'one-twos' that Fredericks plays almost every game to get in round the back, should be a lesson to our guys. He's a good player.
Every player grinded out that win, Blackett included.
The other Fulham full back on the other hand, was totally bossed by Beerens.

Their penalty wasn't soft. Right in front of me and Moore shoved him. He was always going to hit the deck. No complaints here.
Edit: Looks soft as shit on the highlights but I called penalty along with several others around me before the ref did. Looked much more blatant up close.

Yeah nailed on pen.
Worked out well in the end though :D

fixed

Oi !! You've hacked my post.....that's surely not allowed !

It looked like Piazon was celebrating the penalty being given before the ref actually gave it!

back in false 3rd 8)

Decent workmanlike performance and a top effort to reverse a five nil stuffing a few weeks before. This team has character.
Particular mentions to van den Berg who despite stick leading up to match had an excellent game and Kelly is just a magical player and exciting to watch who will only get better.
Swift off the pace for me but will come and I loved Stam's invention with the team and line up. Mccleary pace up top was a far better outlet for me than Kermorgant.
Sets up Saturday nicely.

Big win from a team with even bigger character. Everyone dug in second half. That penalty save could be season defining.
AAH - 10 (Just for the penalty save)
Gunter - 6
McShane - 7
Moore - 7
Joey VDB - 8
Blackett - 5
Kelly - 9 Superb AGAIN.
Williams - 7
Swift - 7
Beerens - 7
McCleary - 8

Sounds like we used the same system that we used at Derby 3-5-2, with Beerens playing upfront with McCleary.
Stam gave an interview a few days before the Derby game, saying how the team had a meeting to talk about `what we want to do, and how we want to go forward` .. I get the feeling this might have been about a formation switch to 3-5-2 which we have only seen in patches this season
I was at the Derby game & the shape was really good, we looked really fluid going forward and had the security of five defenders on the pitch
Good how Beerens has proven to be a viable option upfront
:D

Also, Jaap Stam really isn't getting enough praise. He has re-vitalized this club

absolutely. Out of the shambles of last season we now have a young exciting team playing decent football. Considering the lack of funds its a fantastic achievement

Pretty much mine, although a 6 for Gunter is generous, he was barely average last night - think he could do with a break, but it looks like Stam doesn't trust Watson, which is a pity. Obvious sub for Blackett last night would have been for Gunter to swap sides, and Watson to come on, rather than playing Ilori out of position
Williams was good and frustrating in equal measures - why doesn't he pass more often?
But otherwise, was generally impressed

I thought Williams was excellent last night but in a more defensive role than usual. Seemed to win the ball and harry the opposition constantly.

As for Kelly he was exceptional yet again, technically his brilliant but has that coupled with being a workhorse so even when he does make the odd mistake he's straight back making up for it. very unlucky not to have an assist when he laid it off to Swift.
I thought some of our attacking play last night was exceptional

Not sure what you call good attacking play, but our finishing in the final third was woeful. Beerens shanked a cross that would have been a tap in for either of 2 players, GMac dithered with his passing and was constantly getting caught offside and we failed to capitalise on any breakaways or 2 v 2 situations. Any other team with a striker would of had a hatfull.
I think Samuel would be better than Beerens in that formation as he'd hold the ball better, make better runs, and be more clinical with his finishing.
Although Tiago looked ok, I thought it was a bit unfair of Stam to play him out of position against a full back that he'd struggle with - on his home debut.

That was a great game of football last night. Very entertaining, edge of your seat stuff. We rode our luck throughout the evening and managed to edge the game. We gave as good as we got though and Fulham also had to ride their luck. If we played that game 100 times, probably we'd have won 53 and Fulham would have won 47.
Chris Martin had an off day missing an absolute sitter and also missing his penalty.

McCleary also missed a sitter in front of goal but was very unlucky when a stunning effort crashed back down off the crossbar.
Stam went with a 5-3-2 formation. Which could change into a 3-5-2. I was expecting Van den Berg to push forward when we had possession and slot into the midfield and then back in to the defence when Fulham had the ball. But Joey stayed disciplined and remained in a back 5.
I think on this occasion Stam was right to change tactics and move away from the 4-3-3. Fulham had certainly sussed us out in the 4-3-3. They knew how to play against us so a change of tact was certainly a wise move. At the Cottage, Fulham blew us away and 3 weeks ago in the fog, they certainly looked on top in terms of possession and looked as though they would outplay us and secure the win. I think they had dominated us this season (On Betfair they were 2.38 favourites to win the match. we were priced at 3.3) until last night. Last night was a very even game of football that could have gone either way, but we just had that little bit more luck and edged them out.
This new shape certainly gets us playing more attractive exciting football. It accommodates both Kelly and Swift. I thought we really missed Evans against QPR and Derby and against Fulham we were vulnerable and should have conceded at least 2 goals. But, at the end of the day we are here to be entertained and our new shape is more exciting when we're on the attack and we also look more likely to concede goals as well. Let's just go with it. To hell with promotion, I want more matches like last night.
To be honest, I prefer away trips to QPR, Fulham and Brentford than to Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham anyway. Let's play exciting attacking football that leaves us vulnerable at the back and will cost us quite a few points and let's see where we end up.