League Cup round-up; 5-1
By: Ben | August 13th, 2009The Royals’ youngsters gave Burton Albion a right lesson in possession and passing, not to mention clinical finishing with a dominant 5-1 win at home on Tuesday night. We were 3-0 up before 10 minutes were on the clock, and extended that lead to 4 by half time. Braces from Mooney and Bignall put the game to rest before it had really begun for Albion.
Here’s how we lined up;
Reading (4-3-3): Hamer; Rosenior, Armstrong, Mills, Pearce (c); Harper, Matejovsky, Sigurdsson; Henry, Bignall (N Hunt 62), Mooney
Subs: Andersen, Cisse, Davies, Tabb, Kebe, Antonio
With 8 first team starters away on International duty, Brendan Rogers saw this as an ideal opportunity to give those whose chances in the first team have been limited a run-out, in addition to some more familiar faces recovering from injuries.
New signing Mills got a firm 90 minutes under his belt and looked good both on and off the ball. Harper and Matejovsky returned to the squad after being on the bench for Saturday’s Forest game and David Mooney was handed a rare place in the starting 11. The striker repaid his boss’s faith with two goals, the first of which he cleverly made space before lashing into the top of the net. The 4-3-3 tactics proved effective as Nicholas Bignall added another two goals to the strike-force’s tally in quick succession.
The moment of the night however, was no doubt a stunning 35-yarder from Gylfi Sigurdsson in the midfield. Young goalkeeper Ben Hamer made a good claim to be Adam Federici’s understudy too, conceding an unfortunate deflected goal.
Alright, alright, it’s only the League Cup, but it’s reassuring to see some of the talent ‘behind the first-team curtains’ so to speak.
2nd Round clash is again at home, this time to Barnsley, a week Tuesday on the 25th.
Ta!
Category: Team News
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I thought it was a terrific performance with some great movement. OK, the opposition wasn’t the best but Burton actually pressed Royals well in the second half. It’s clear now that the new broom is about the system rather than the individuals and the whole squad is being groomed to fit into it. It’s quite exciting to witness such a significant tactical change.
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