MH rounded and beat for the first. ``deceptive ball, but I thought mH could have come onto it. He started to come and then stopped,'' say the announcers. 1-0. 16 minutes
MH under a lot of pressure. Crewe, jones, after scoring, breaks through, slips ball under MH, goes over him to finish and adie williams clears out, to claims of a penalty. A minute later, shot straight at MH. Reading need to get goater on the field.
Reading playing for the counter, but even so, they're getting dominated. Crewe have 79 percent of possession in the first half hour. MH is the only reading player holding possession. Sidwell is booked, meaning he'll miss the next game. This is not looking like much right now. Hold on till half then hope the goat can create some magic. Holding on will not be easy. Crewe are attacking in waves.
Ferrchrissakes. The third piss poor back pass of the first half and Williams is booked, lucky not to be tossed as he trips jones to make up for knocking the ball half way to MH. MH amazingly got to the ball, saving the red, the announcers guess. MH since getting rounded has been playing well. He's going to have to. And then Forster gets a shot off, forcing a series of corners, Newman eventually plays it in and Forster off the post.
HT Crewe 1-0 Reading. Forster ends the half with a good shot, forcing a diving save. MH has been solid since the 16th minute, which wasn't his fault, but with which he could have done more.
Second half begins and Jones streaks through and takes a shot, a bad one, but not a good omen. Forster still alone up top. Dillon says they've got to pass more quickly to break it open. They certainly need to do something.
MH saves an easy one, but Reading are looking the better team right now. Forster forces a diving save, hughes flashes wide. They're looking to isolate Forster on Walker, are doing it and Forster is skipping by his marker. Crewe are attacking as well though. end to end.
Newman off, Murty on. Shame, as Newman has been lively. And Goater is the one who needs to come on. Reading break, Forster beats the keep but a defender clears from the post.
Reading are taking over. But Crewe break, and MH charges out, misses the ball, but Jones misses the shot. ``a big american keeper charging at you might force you to rethink your shot,'' announcers say.