Match Report |
Swansea City 0-0 Reading | |
|
Swansea City 0-0 Reading
Swans produced a spirited display to earn their first point of the season but it was a case of what might have been with Mark Gower failing to score from the penalty spot.
Paulo Sousa would no doubt have wanted to make a number of changes after Saturday’s poor display against Boro. With his squad ravaged by injuries his options were severely restricted and he made just the one change with Kerry Morgan getting his first League outing at the expense of Shaun MacDonald. 
Reading, who have faced similar problems to the Swans with the loss of their manager and several key players have also had a poor start to the season with just a solitary point to date. Their side, on paper at least looked much weaker than in recent years but their bench was packed with quality and experience.
Side- de Vries, Rangel, Monk, Williams, Tate, Dyer, Orlandi, Britton, Morgan, Gower, Dobbie. Subs- Cornell, Painter, MacDonald, Richards, Thomas, Bond, Pintado.
Swans started with Kerry Morgan wide left and Mark Gower playing the attacking midfield role behind Stephen Dobbie.  Swans showed plenty of early commitment but
Reading, as I’m sure most CCC teams this year will, were working hard to close Swans down every time they had the ball. There were a few poor challenges from them that referee Mr Hooper penalised but he seemed reluctant to show a card, preferring to deal with these with an insipid, infuriating smile.  Swans created their first chance on 15 minutes with Andrea Orlandi striking a free kick from just outside the box that hit the last man in the wall.
Again, Swans biggest problem was providing support to Stephen Dobbie. Mark Gower, Andrea Orlandi and Kerry Morgan were all called to the touchline by Paolo Sousa and his hand gestures indicated they were expected to get further forward in Swans attacks.
Mr Hopper missed a blatant handball by a
The choice of penalty taker left many Swans fans amazed as goal shy Mark Gower stepped up. It says something for him that after a series of dreadful misses at the end of last season and another sitter missed last week in the Carling Cup game, that he was prepared to take it. He shouldn’t have bothered. His shot was too close to the keeper and the perfect height for Adam Federici in the 
If the decision was meant to ease Gower’s goal scoring yips it didn’t work and he is likely to have sleepless nights after such a poor effort.
Swans responded well to the setback and had the better of the rest of the half. Stephen Dobbie went close with a shot from outside the box, but chances at both ends were few and far between. The quality of the game wasn’t the greatest which was hardly surprising with the starts both teams have had to the season.
Referee Mr Hooper infuriated the Swans crowd by booking Andrea Orlandi just before half time. The challenge probably did deserve a card but
Swans started the second half on the offensive but it was
Mr Hopper finally produced a yellow card for a  Nathan Dyer was pulled down by Robson-Kanu and Alan Tate certainly didn’t help matters by hitting the ball, after the ref had already blown up, into the head of the
The melee lifted the crowd ,which in turn lifted the Swans players. Swans started to dominate the game. Kerry Morgan started to come out of his shell and started running at his full back. On the opposite flank, Nathan Dyer was linking well with Angel Rangel.
Mr Hooper gave Reading a free kick on the edge of the box after Leon Britton dispossessed substitute Noel Hunt. The decision was crazy and Paulo Sousa remonstrated with the fourth official. Thankfully, the free kick struck the wall and Swans defence cleared the danger.
With the home crowd in full voice Swans attacked in waves. Stephen Dobbie went close with a left foot shot that went just wide. The same player went even closer a minute later after being put through by Kerry Morgan. This time he showed strength and skill to hold off his marker sand his shot looked destined for the corner but went just wide of the post with Federici beaten.
Angel Rangel provided Dobbie with yet another chance but for once his effort was poor. The striker was then replaced by Gorka Pintado with 12 minutes to go.
His substitution was something of a surprise but I think Paolo Sousa would have felt with the Swans so much on top he didn’t want to change the system.  Five minutes from time and Mr Hooper surpassed himself gifting
Mr Hooper was obviously enjoying himself and didn’t want the game to end, adding six minutes injury time. But Swans couldn’t quite find that killer pass or bit of luck to earn the three points their effort and commitment had earned.
Jazz Richard and Shaun MacDonald came on for the last two minutes.
Ratings-
De Vries 7 – Quiet time. Distribution much better than last Saturday.  Rangel 7 – Still off his best but hopefully getting better. Monk 7 – Didn’t put a foot wrong. Williams 7 – Solid and reliable. Showed his mettle running into a melee and heading straight at the giant, nasty looking centre half. Tate 7 – 100% commitment all night.
Dyer 7 – Never stopped trying but things just didn’t go his way tonight. Orlandi 6 – Not really suited to playing central role in midfield but much more effective than he was on Saturday. Britton 7 – Good all action performance. Morgan 7 – Quiet first half when he looked a little out of his depth. Grew in confidence as the game went on.
Gower 6 – I’m fed up to the back teeth writing about his misses. He must be having sleepless nights. Dobbie 8 – Often lacked support but again worked hard and unlucky not to score.
Subs-
Pintado 6 – Didn’t do too much. MacDonald/ Richards- Both only on for two minutes.
| |
|
Swansea City 0-0 Reading
Swansea City earned their first Championship point under new manager Paulo Sousa as the clash at Liberty Stadium ended goalless. |
|