And breath again! Wow what a breathless and open match that was. Won by two pieces of magic (and some awful finishing by our opponents). Told you all not to worry after the point at Boro. I didn’t understand all the stress and angst. We are Premier League in waiting. Have been for a few weeks now. One more win I reckon will make it more or less official. So who and where do we play next? Let me check the fixture list
Two moments of astonishing individual brilliance and Sarr showing exactly the kind of player he is/can be - the victory is all important and must be pushing us over the top about now, but after that first half in particular I will probably stop feeling like I'm about to **** myself in a couple of hours' time. Femenia and Hughes were brilliant as is so often the case, JP had another night where nothing came off, and Sema is continually ineffective; either through tiredness or something else. Sanchez was the grown up in the room when he came on and showed every day of his 45-year career experience - I certainly thought he was a meme signing when he appeared, but fairplay, he's proven to be a vital cog. Would really like to see either Cathcart or, ideally, Kabs, come in for WTE at this point.
Two fantastic goals aside we were awful first half. All over the gaff and very lucky to go in at 2-0. Second half a far more composed and professional performance. Sanchez seemed a calming presence. Sema poo again.
Been saying all season what a player he could be if he cut inside more.... And he did - what a goal.! We are a hard watch at times but Reading are the best we played this season. I don't like us having Zinc in a midfield tho - OK when we're going forward but they walked thru our midfield several times - my heart rate is still up...
Weird game, I’m slightly pissed but two worldies apart they probably deserve something from that. Regardless, a win at the scum and we’re surely up.
I thought we’d lose this. As usual, I avoided watching, listening or checking scores, and am consequently delighted, oblivious of performance. I’m a notorious Cassandra (paging @wfcmoog and @I Blame Bassett) but even I think it’s looking good now. #DiditforPhilip.
3rd poor performance in a row. Xisco should have freshened it up after Boro and didn’t. Zinc piss poor. Sema missing. We looked better once Sanchez came on.
Oh and looks like we'll have a cathcart/Sieralta CB pairing for the run in, and that could finally show Munoz our best defensive pairing after 41 games...??
How good were Olise and Ejaria? I’d love us to sign Olise if we go up and Reading don’t. Joy to watch.
Solid win and good performance all round. Yes Reading were on top at the end of the first half but they are no mugs and in a game of a football both teams will have their spells over the course of the game. What they severely lacked though was someone who doesn’t s**t the bed in the opposition box. I have often wonder which players we would get rid of if we went up. Last time we got promoted we ditched Vydra, Toszer, Pudil and Angella. You can’t convince me they are worse players than Gray, WTE and Masina. Will be interesting to see.
Surprised by the negativity on here. We were awful for about ten mins at the end of the first half but they didn’t really even have a chance in the second. I thought we managed the game expertly against a very decent side in the second half. We all know it doesn’t really matter at this stage, as long as we get the points. COYH.
You can feel Sarr's desire through the screen, he is sick of playing Preston, Rotherham and Birmingham Guy sometimes just goes 'fuxck it, I'll just do it myself'
Not a great performance again. But the result is all that counts. We sat back and allowed Reading to come into it which is a dangerous ploy given the quality of their midfield. However Sanchez marshaled that midfield excellently. What an astute signing. Mopping up, passing simply and even almost scoring. There are signs the attacking fluency is coming back but while there were stars on the pitch in Sarr, Hughes and Sierralta who was utterly imperious questions have to be raised about the performance of Sema and Gray. Both were awful and that is for a second game running. Troost-Ekong and his frailties have been covered by Francisco. Zinckernagel showed flashes but also needs to sharpen up and learn time is at a premium in this division. I expect he will be better in the PL paradoxically. However we have done what we do normally rely on a few small moments of dominance to flatten the opposition, sit back and then and credit to Xisco our game management was excellent. We snuffed the life out of Reading. Pedro needs to learn some discipline. Lucky his elbow was not spotted. More aggression in the right way, more control of the ball and less sloppiness next week for Luton. If we could get Olise he would be a great addition to our squad. Stands out like a sore thumb on the pitch. As it stands:
Fairs fair, I was scathing about us at HT and rightly so IMO, but second half, although nowhere near a fluid performance, we dug in deep and managed the game very well and ultimately broke Reading's hearts. If they get in the play-offs I think they'll be tough to beat. Anyway, on to sc*m. This game literally couldn't be any bigger could it?!
Good win against a very good side. They pressed us really well and did not sit back. Full credit to Reading, they needed the points as much as us, and its little wonder we found the game tough especially towards the end of the first half. Two moments of magic from Sarr did the job, and despite being under the cosh, we held out. Got to pleased overall, 12pts clear, we can out our feet up now and watch Brentford and Swansea eff it up again. Troost is a mistake waiting to happen. Get Wilmot in there. Very impressed with Sanchez tonight, made us settle down. Pedro quiet again, Madina great setup for an almost Sarr treble. Well played boys. Nice rest now before we go to the Kennel.
Reading have some good players and play nice football. Good luck to them if they do make it into the playoffs. Absolutely, completely ridiculous couple of minutes from Sarr. We are so lucky to have him. We rode our luck a little in the first half (don't think we deserved our clean sheet tonight), but much more assured in the second. Sanchez was superb. An excellent win, but I feel we could do with freshening up the lineup a little. Maybe rests for WTE (the dodgiest passer I've ever seen), Sema, Zinc. Pedro also hasn't been firing on all cylinders but I do think he generally offers enough to stay in the XI. Don't want to nitpick though - am loving watching this team the last few months. On to the next.
Yessss, great result. You win games like that when you have a class player like Sarr. Think it was Alex Ferguson who said the sign of a good team is a team that can win even when not playing well. Zinc man crush anyone? Let's smash the scum next week.
Come on!!! We're still limping a bit but that seems like one foot over the line. We started much better than our previous two showings, seeming much sharper and more like our level as shown before the international break. However after the two goals, and particularly the Zinckernagel booking, we seemed to crap the bed a bit for the rest of the half, dropping too much energy, and start being a bit panicked, sloppy and sluggish. We weren't much improved in the second half, but did a better job than against Boro of at least getting stuck in and keeping our heads when it mattered while defending. Sarr obviously the star man. However Bachmann also deserves a special mention for an excellent performance. Sanchez also made a big difference when he came on, providing the composure on the ball we had been desperately lacking while crapping the bed in the first half. I'd been calling for him to get more minutes in the last couple of games, especially ahead of Gosling, and it was good to see him get the nod ahead of him today - and he showed why it was the right call. He was class. Troost-Ekong's injury could be a blessing in disguise, I am completely fed up with his abysmal passing. Joao Pedro was utter gash for yet another consecutive game, and if that was the PL with VAR he'd have had a stupid red card as well. Our other striker options aren't great, but he doesn't deserve to start the next game. Zinckernagel should have been subbed earlier again as well. He at least showed some quality at times, but he was also lucky not to get a red and was like playing with 10 men when defending after his booking.
I’ll be sure to go into Bournemouth this weekend in full kit so they can all thank me. Reading are no mugs. That young midfielder they’ve got look like what we hoped Quinta would be by now. Very good potential. it’s games like this where keeping hold of Sarr makes the difference. Really chuffed for him. We are so close.
A massive win which is all that really matters. Sarr and Hughes superb. Zinc did okay after a poor start. WTE was utterly dreadful. Sema was poor again.
Also massive respect to Reading, came at us and have some very good players. I hope they win the playoffs so they can hold on to some of their stars.
Did what we need to do and edging ever closer. Very long shot but at least we're keeping Norwich a bit honest at the top too. They don't seem to think much of us judging by this thread though: https://forum.pinkun.com/index.php?/topic/141850-watford-v-reading/page/4/#comments Nice of them to dedicate a match thread to us though, cheers!
Zinck was pretty ***** in that first half, but I thought he was better in that second half (that miss aside). Chalobah didn't look right in that first half, but Sanchez was immense when he came on
Some oddly muted reactions on here. People seemed to be more positive when Brentford drew on Tuesday. We are TWELVE points clear!
