Reading v Manchester United 9/23/06- Pre/During/Post Match Talk [R]

[T_Rock]

Somehow Scholes doesn't score. Hahnemann did not grab a cross he should have and after a little bit of pinball, Scholes shot takes a deflection and goes wide. Fletcher and Heinze off for Solskjaer and O'Shea at the 70 min

[T_Rock]

Ronoldo with a very nice goal. Comes from out wide and dribbles at Murty. Nice shot down low beats Hahnemann.

1-1 with less the 20 minutes to play.

[Liv'poolFaninAZ]

I've always said this, Ronaldo is someone I've always wanted to punch in the face. Him and Rooney I wish they would've had a girly-slap fight during the WC. It would've been funny to see which one is a bigger girl. Oh well, I hope you guys at least get a point today from Manure, you deserve more.

YNWA

[T_Rock]

Reading are really packed in now, trying to hold for the tie. Can Reading hold on and maybe catch MU on the break? Lita is off for Gunnarsson. Reading appear to be playing for the point now with that sub.

[T_Rock]

Come on Reading....

[T_Rock]

The whole of the defense is needed to take the ball from Rooney. Corner won for MU. O'shea gets a header that is blocked by the defense. The pressure is really on now.

[T_Rock]

10 minutes to pray...I mean play.

[T_Rock]

Ref plays a horrible advantage call that proves to be no advantage at all for Reading

[T_Rock]

has the clock slowed down....Corner for MU as Seol is replaced by Hunt at the 85 minute. Corner is wasted as MU play all the back to their own keeper

[T_Rock]

Rooney is very upset about the lack of call in the box

[T_Rock]

Ronoldo and Saha are looking dangerous. Convey was to come off until Murty signals that he has come up lame. Luckly, the side-line notices it and Murty is pulled for Bikey. 4 minutes of extra time

[T_Rock]

Hold for three more...come on Reading

[T_Rock]

Ronoldo shot sails wide...he is attacking with a lot of pace from out wide

[T_Rock]

Not one person is seating down in the Stadium....one to play

[T_Rock]

24,098 in attendance..30seconds left

[T_Rock]

A great result in the end! Reading hold on for the tie. I feel slightly disapointed after Reading lead in the match. However, this is a great result when put into perspective.

[Middle Of The Shed]

Thanks Reading :)

Really good game, deserved the point, possibly more.
Surprised Fergie didn't get his 28 minutes injury time though.

[prvev]

Yes! Best. Tie. Ever.

Ok, maybe not ever. But pretty damn good. I'm certainly pleased with it, even if there was a period of time where it looked like a win was a real possibility. The players put it all out there today, and you can't ask for any more than that.

[RichardL]

With the imminent arrival of the first of three games at home in which Reading supposedly had no chance at all, I did wonder if I'd be reporting on the first league defeat I'd seen in 13 1/2 months, and if the experience would leave me more bitter and twisted than a lemon slice in ill-fitting boxer shorts. As it was, not only was a draw gained, making it 31 games at home without defeat in all competitions, but the North Stand voodoo was also able to maintain its magic spell, making it 22 consecutive league games that the opposition has failed to score in the goal at that end.

With the late kick off encouraging one or two people to venture to the bar for a pre-match drink for longer than usual (I say one or two...) the atmosphere was the best of the season, in front of a new record high for a league match of 24,098.

The pre-match odds had Reading at 6-1 for the win, and although a few royals were tempted by the generosity of those odds, Man Utd quickly put up a demonstration of why you never see a skint bookmaker. The way they passed and moved was a different class, and Reading faced the unnattractive prospect of being Billy Joel to their Christie Brinkley. United's early threat was obvious at they appeared willing to shoot on sight. Had a couple of awkward long range shots not been cleared with a few desperate hacks that wouldn't have been out of place in the US Ryder Cup team, it could have been a different story.

Reading were being stretched like a virgin's hymen, but thankfully the penetration started to have a look of impotence about it, and Reading seemed to take heart from it. Slowly they started getting forward themselves, but without Kitson, who works better with Doyle & Lita than they do together, maintaining possession when they got forward was a problem.

As usual the wings looked the most likely threat, but both wingers were finding it harder than usual to get their crosses in as Utd's 5 man midfield, and defenders, gave them very little time to do so. Albert Einstein may have said that time is an illusion, but he didn't have Gabriel Heinze showing him 57 varieties of uncompromisng tackles.

With Utd seemingly taking turns to pick off people holding drinks in the North Stand with wayward shots, Reading's best chance fell to Doyle as a through ball found its way fortuitiously to his feet, but he was too surprised to make the chance count. You don't get too many gifts against top class opposition....

...or maybe you do.

Shortly into the second half another cross found a Utd shirt, only this bit of shirt had a defender's arm inside it. Hands up who knows why Neville handled the ball? Just you Gary? OK then.

Doyle stepped up to take it. He'd taken and missed a penalty in the midweek shootout v Darlington - a penalty so soft and feeble that you could have put a dress on it and called it Mildred, but this was low and harder than wayne rooney at a glamorous granny competition. 1-0 Reading.

This inspired Reading to their best spell of the game. Utd were still swarming forward like locusts, but rather than just purely sitting back, which would have been about as suicidal as walking to a fancy dress part in Kabul in a Pope outft, Reading started to use their width more. It was perhaps the one tactical advantage Reading had, with Utd having the width of a catwalk model. The worry was that this could be our undoing. If either Convey or Seol commited themselves too much, we could be caught on the break. The feeling was though, that like the blue half of Manchester who came down for the previous game, the red half were having a lot of possession, and a fair number of shots, but didn't actually look like scoring.

Alas, at about exactly the time when Reading's fans were seriously starting to think the win could be on, Ronaldo scored. He'd looked easily the best player for Utd, even if for some reason he'd decided the goal was about 10 metres higher than it usually is for most of the game. It's often said, usually by pundits who look forward to the mud and cold of winter, that if Ronaldo stopped all he stepovers and fancy flicks then he be very useful. That was exactly what he did.

It'd be harsh to blame Seol, for he'd worked his nuts off as much as the rest of the team and had looked our most likely player to create a second goal, but if there is a hole in his game that stands out like a toe in a worn sock, it a lack of eagerness to defend. Had he challenged Ronaldo he might still have not won the ball, but the lack of a challenge allowed him to take the ball unchallenged to the box. As it was he showed good control and the equaliser was tucked in neater than a newly born child at bedtime.

After that, with Lita off, and Doyle looking more shagged than Annabel Chong on her record night, it was more of a backs to the wall job than an inadvertent visit to the blue oyster bar for the remaining few minutes. Everyone did their jobs though, and nobody could be faulted for effort. Not on the Reading team anyway. Fans of Utd who were expecting a walk in park today, and hadn't bargained on stepping in something messy today, might have a rather different view

[zerorespects]

Great result guys.

Congrats. Two years ago i think our 1-1 tie with Man U was a spring board for a decent run.