Match Report: City silence transfer clamour with timely reminder of grit over goals

[Olé]

With just 72 hours left in a transfer window that most fans have long since turned into a running joke about the club’s failure to add additional goalscoring, City delivered a perfect reminder of their own focus - a third straight league win and third straight clean sheet accomplished by converting a single chance, then rallying to protect that advantage at all costs.

Narrowly winning away games by securing a lead and then defending the three points as a team through sheer bloody-mindedness, has always been the feature of Lee Johnson’s most convincing runs at promotion - including a remarkable winning streak last season - and tonight’s deserved raid on the Madesjki Stadium proved the winning formula again.

Far from needing firepower, City are at their best given a lead to believe in, grinding out wins as a collective. At Reading they lacked cutting edge to reward their clear endeavour, but once Paterson finally made good from Eliasson’s continual delivery, his side rallied to guarantee the victory, Baker and Williams clearing off the line three times in a minute.

City went into the fixture retaining the same team that narrowly defeated battling Barnsley at Ashton Gate. And while Johnson’s men perhaps didn’t get credit they deserved due to the Tykes lowly league position, Reading’s rejuvenation - 1 defeat in 11 with wins over Fulham and Preston and two draws with form side Forest - made this a much sterner test.

And it was the visitors who came out of their 10 day absence flying. Inside two minutes attacking interplay on the right saw Paterson race onto a Weimann through ball and lay it back for Diedhiou, who curled a shot into the top corner that was well saved. A minute later Eliasson sent in a wicked cross and Weimann flashed a near post header just wide.

All the press and energy was coming from City but by the tenth minute Reading started to find their feet - belatedly settling as a team, to retain possession as they built slowly from midfield, orchestrated by Liverpool loanee Ejaria, their stand out performer. And yet despite feeding space on both flanks, the hosts found City ready to block any balls into the box.

And so after 20 minutes it was again the away side that switched up a gear to rally. On 21 Hunt and Brownhill combined on the right, the latter backheeling smartly to give Eliasson room for his latest whipped cross, Paterson ghosting in unmarked to plant an almost identical near post header wide as Weimann had done earlier - and with the goal at his mercy.

On 24 minutes Brownhill, whose energy and combative performance belied rumours of an imminent departure, stole in behind the Reading defence to win a corner - and Eliasson’s latest delivery caused chaos, Diedhiou with several attempts to bundle home in a goalmouth scramble in front of away fans, as the hosts hung on grimly against determined City.

A minute later Smith’s sweeping through ball was taken in stride by the relentless Eliasson, and his quick release for Paterson appeared to get the City attacking midfielder on a run clear on goal, but his first touch was poor and surrendered the chance immediately. That same combination and instinctive early ball would not prove so wasteful second half!

City could be accused again of failing to convert chances, and when just inside the half hour Swift took aim with a wildly swerving shot from range, Bentley had to recover quickly to parry and claim at the second attempt. The remaining quarter hour saw Hunt, Eliasson and Paterson all give the ball away, putting City on the back foot as Reading finally rallied.

If the lead up to half time suggested City had run out of ideas and the Royals were now in the ascendancy - forcing a series of blocks for corners - it didn’t show after the break as following a scrappy opening, again the away side found their stride first. On 53 Diedhiou and Weimann combined from a throw in on the left, the Austrian’s strike forcing a corner.

Two minutes later the visiting fans roared in anticipation as at the far end Eliasson went clear on the right and another devastating deep cross flashed beyond the far post, where Diedhiou, racing in, couldn’t convert. Yet it was Reading who went closest on 57, a right-wing corner headed down, and that man Ejaria remarkably slicing over just two yards out.

But it was always City that looked more hungry, and on the hour Brownhill got the ball out of his feet in midfield to put Eliasson clear again, and another wicked cross was setup for Diedhiou far post, but stretching, he contrived to steer a header over. Criticism of the striker would be harsh, having worked hard while often being unfairly penalised by the referee.

And it was therefore to the away sides relief that a minute later they did get the opener their endeavour so deserved. Again Eliasson picked up possession on the right and this time he spied room for Paterson to break the lines and played a perfect through ball, where the midfielder collected and wasted no time placing an early low shot into the bottom corner.

Reading were by no means a poor team when given a chance to attack, and inside 5 minutes a crude Smith challenge with Ejaria on the run, saw Swift sting the hands of Bentley with a 30 yard free kick. And before the midway point of the second half Paterson almost turned villain, twice giving the ball away in dangerous positions as the hosts rallied.

Johnson’s first sub was therefore no surprise, O’Dowda replacing the exhausted Paterson - and the effect was immediate. The out of sorts Irish winger picked up the ball 40 yards out on the left, powered past two defenders, exchanged a one-two with Diedhiou, before skipping into the box and testing the home keeper at the near post. City far from finished.

But as so often away from home, the match would be won at the other end, where Williams and Baker, and cover Smith, stood firm. No more so than in the last few minutes as an extraordinary spell saw Meite’s header desperately turned onto the post by Baker, before he and Williams headed Aluko and Gunter follow ups off the line with Bentley stranded.

Right in front of massed ranks of nearly 2000 City fans, this was an improbable, warrior like effort to secure the three points, and fans roared their belief as heading into injury time Bentley spectacularly claimed Meite’s top corner header in mid-air. In injury time Weimann wriggled clear but was robbed with just keeper to beat, and Meite turned and shot wide.

However City were clearly by now not to be denied, their players fighting for everything, captain Brownhill chasing clear the final loose ball, and with that - the final whistle, a fourth league win in five matches for so recently under-fire manager Johnson, and a return to the top six Championship play-off places, as City head into February now with all to play for.

A victory won as a relentless, battling team performance rather than as stars, and symbolised by their obvious passion at the end - Diedhiou among those exhausted players who turned immediately to the away stand to hammer his chest and show how much a hard fought win means. We don’t need star strikers. We just need a narrow advantage to defend.

 

Bentley 7 Don’t think Reading ever contrived a high quality close range chance bar the Ejaria slice over from a corner, but for everything else from 10 yards or more, Bentley was largely faultless in his handling, and exudes confidence - but tonight at least owed much more to blocks from his imperious central defenders than they did to him for his saves

Hunt 5 Still our weakest link with and without the ball - they got a lot of joy (and space) around him in the first half, and on the ball it was as common for him to punt it out of play or give it to no one in particular, as it was for him to contribute. Had an impressive purple patch early this season, but right now seems to be out of his depth in this team of players

Dasilva 8 Tighter and better positioned without the ball that Hunt, and far more of an outlet with the ball - never ceases to amaze me how easy he finds it to nick the ball off an opponent and run and shield it from them before feeding a player around him - centre of balance, technique, ball control, he’s one of our classiest players when dribbling forward

Williams 8 For me despite Baker shading the crazy late minute of goal-line clearances (2 headers to 1), it was Williams that was overall the pick of the two centre backs owing to his (relatively) classier distribution, hard to think of a single thing he did wrong all game

Baker 8 Doesn’t normally last 90 minutes but seemed tonight to get better and better as the game went on, was launching himself at everything by the end, minor grumble about balls forward to no one in particular, which failed to relieve the pressure, but his desire to win was clear for all to see

Smith 8 Close to man of the match, sat in midfield, pressed opponents, and once on the ball retained possession well, always looked up and was looking for opportunities to step away from opponents and move the ball forward - remarkable levels of energy for someone out so long

Brownhill 7 Smith only shaded this by a fraction, Brownhill was tireless and got into good positions all the time, while hounding the opposition without the ball, had to do a lot of dirty work, but the odd loose touch was a reminder that he wasn’t even the best central midfielder for us today

Eliasson 7 By his own high standards faded badly in the final half hour to the extent he was giving it away rather than having the energy to cross, and so was rightly subbed, but his crosses for an hour were a never-ending source of opportunity for us, and perhaps should have resulted in more than one goal

Paterson 6 Wasted our two best chances first half, but always a willing runner and made no mistake with the winner in the second half - when we play Diedhiou (and I’m a huge fan of his defensive and workrate attributes) it’s essential to play a player like Paterson who makes runs and can get into scoring positions to offset Diedhiou’s different strengths

Weimann 5 Harder and harder to rate his performances, never short of effort but seems to rarely link up effectively with teammates, is aways making his own runs, had a brilliant early chance, and one right at the end - between that I felt like he was never really the target of our attacks, and Paterson showed him up for getting into dangerous positions

Diedhiou 6 Worked his proverbials off as always, at one point he sprinted 50 yards when Reading broke from our corner, and was back before the defence and delivered decisive block. Was harshly treated by ref who gave much of his tussles with defenders against him. His effort and desire for the team rather than himself is worth more than his goals.

 

O’Dowda 6 One stunning run right after coming on, but not much else besides

Moore 6 One headed clearance to make, one headed clearance made convincingly

[Guest]

Disagree on Hunt. Thought he got through so much work going forward and defensively, and didn't seem to be caught much at all.

Agree on Weimann. Hasn't played well for quite a while now. 

But then I guess the work rate of our side is one main difference between the 2 teams. So I'll give him credit for how hard he worked again.

But doesn't really do much on the ball for such an attacking player.

[Major Isewater]

Last night we played like a TEAM, players interchanging and knowing where they should be and what they should be doing. 
 

Apparently , only seventeen players were able to train so they mostly knew that they would get some game time.

We looked good though lacking a finish . Yet again we got the job done but the margins are minute and once again if the opposition were sharper in front of goal we would have lost . We are not the only ones desperate for a clinical striker .

Diedhou , you can only love him for his effort and he merits his place in the side but,  like Weimann , is not good enough to lead the line for a top two team and if we go up will get limited starts . Anyway they are both players that deserve respect for their application and work for the team.It was good to see them actually linking up which is something they haven’t done as well as they should have in the past. 

I must mention Pato who has been great since his recall . Lucky Lee . His interplay , particularly with Eliasson , reminded me of the wonderful style  we had when Bobby Reid was dazzling in the team , à Bobby dazzler if you like , and we were seeing off Prem clubs for fun.

 

This side is very much like the GJ play off side where the collective is stronger than the individuals .

A good , energetic , fighting performance from the boys .

Well done .

Johnson In ( again ) ! 

[Top Robin]

I think we do need a better striker who would have scores some of those ones others have missed. 

Also I am concerned that teams are all over us for long periods and a decent midfielder may help prevent that.

[DT The Optimist]

Great reviews from ole and Major, I was not there and had the radio Brizzle experience and you are in tune with Gary Owers and his thoughts . The Pato thing is that Derby did not want to retain him, rather than him being recalled, and now he has slipped effortlessly back into starting eleven 

At the game against them at he Gate I thought best player on pitch was Ejaria the Liverpool loanee.  Thought he was quality and seemed same again last night. How did they get a player like that for a season. I had hopes this season we could have attracted players of that kind with MA credentials and contacts. 

Good result and seemed a good performance as well.  It’s nice to have the two together . Will be an interesting watch now to see how the window ends up. 

[And Its Smith]

Harsh markings on Pato and Fam. Two of our best players last night for me. 

Wonder how Weimann gets dropped. Consistently our poorest or joint poorest player for a number of games now

Ole, you wrote on twitter that Fam was one of the best players on the pitch immediately after the game, interested to know what changed your mind 

[maxjak]

Thanks yet again for your excellent match report Ole.....I no longer bother with the newspaper n' main site reports for away matches............just go straight to yours.  Big shout out to our brilliant away support, and isn't it great to have Korey back?

[Olé]

1 hour ago, RedDave said:

Ole, you wrote on twitter that Fam was one of the best players on the pitch immediately after the game, interested to know what changed your mind 

That's a fair challenge, I nearly edited it the minute I posted it - I didn't spot his touch in the build up to the goal, and yes I did think he was one of our best players in terms of work rate and desire, but the ratings are a bit more derivative, I start at 5 and increment them in my head based on stand out moments and I couldn't think of many by the time I got home. He just worked his socks off without doing a huge amount in an attacking capacity.

In any case it's all relative. I thought our best few - the CBs, Korey, Jay - deserved 8's and on that basis I thought by Eliasson's own high standards, his total fading after the goal dropped him to a 7, and at that point I couldn't see how Fam could be more than a 6. I'm not really big on ratings, I just know some people need it to save reading the story! Fam truly belies rating, end product can be non-existent but contribution to team ethic is off the charts.

[Carey 6]

 

[The Fat Controller]

Weimann is in the side for his work rate, is it time for Watkins (who also is a willing runner) to be given a chance?

Offers something slightly different to AW but perhaps would be more on the same wavelength as our other players.

[One Team]

Good report mate and agree with most of that having watched the game.

I disagree on the “we don’t need star strikers” point though. This is exactly what we are missing right now and could be the difference in making the play offs and missing out. 

[BTRFTG]

3 points, much needed. 

We set up and have personnel that perform better away from home but in truth Reading were no great shakes (their 14 excepted.) Didn't realise he was on loan from Liverpool but he was head and shoulders the most talented bloke on the park - just the sort we could have done with. 

I'm no Paterson fan but thought this one of his better games. At least he looked to get forward, put in a defensive shift and converted a decent chance (more than Static or Flappy were ever likely to do.) Ok, he gave a few away cheaply and in dangerous areas but boy did he work to get the ball back, which previous games he's shown no inclination to do. Ditto the conundrum that is Static ( I'm going to have to revise his epithet, methinks.) Whilst in the final third he remains statuesque his movement and speed increase exponentially the closer he gets to our goal. One late break last night when we were caught having piled forward, he was nigh on the first bloke back to save the day, the lumbering Brownhill 40 yards in his wake. His heading prowess exemplar in his own box yet wholly dissipates once he crosses the half way line. Oddest conundrum I've seen in a long time.

Two points not highlighted in your comprehensive report:

That has to be the most one sided City performance I've seen in decades. Not by that I'm implying we we inferior/ superior to the opposition, rather when we had the ball the left hand side of the pitch might as well not have existed. Worse, WeeLee seems not to understand that the primary point in knocking the ball back to the keeper from advanced positions is to provide the option to switch play. Lost count of the number of times last night the ball came all the way back but with no intention of the ball going left and fooling none of the opposition, Bentley (poor distribution and box command are not disguised by the decent stops he had to make as a result of his primary failings,) attempted to launch it forward from whence it had come ceding possession in the process. Makes it easy for the opposition to mark us out of the game, which a poor Reading nearly achieved last night;

Shooting - WeeLee's certainly coached that out of the players and whilst I'm not surprised Smith is goal shy for Weimann and the rest to always look to lay it off rather than shoot is astonishing. Best highlighted by the utter waste of the free kick that ended the first half. Just because WeeLee rarely enjoyed the thrill of scoring he shouldn't mandate that to his charges.

Alamo finish when we should have been able to easily close it out but it went our way, so all good ( this time.)

 

[reddogkev]

Great write up again, Cheers Ole, enjoyed reading that.  Thank God you're a City fan, I wouldn't know have the things I do about these away games without your reports!

[Jerseybean]

2 hours ago, maxjak said:

Thanks yet again for your excellent match report Ole.....I no longer bother with the newspaper n' main site reports for away matches............just go straight to yours.  Big shout out to our brilliant away support, and isn't it great to have Korey back?

Spot on. Ole’s reports and ratings are so much more informative and accurate than anything else. Great travelling support from the 1,934 faithful who made a great noise throughout the game and yes KS is a legend. 

[City oz]

3 hours ago, DT The Optimist said:

Great reviews from ole and Major, I was not there and had the radio Brizzle experience and you are in tune with Gary Owers and his thoughts . The Pato thing is that Derby did not want to retain him, rather than him being recalled, and now he has slipped effortlessly back into starting eleven 

At the game against them at he Gate I thought best player on pitch was Ejaria the Liverpool loanee.  Thought he was quality and seemed same again last night. How did they get a player like that for a season. I had hopes this season we could have attracted players of that kind with MA credentials and contacts. 

Good result and seemed a good performance as well.  It’s nice to have the two together . Will be an interesting watch now to see how the window ends up. 

All great posts especially from OLE. But be careful we were playing a team a lot lower than us last night.

[CyderInACan]

1 hour ago, BTRFTG said:

Shooting - WeeLee's certainly coached that out of the players and whilst I'm not surprised Smith is goal shy for Weimann and the rest to always look to lay it off rather than shoot is astonishing. Best highlighted by the utter waste of the free kick that ended the first half. Just because WeeLee rarely enjoyed the thrill of scoring he shouldn't mandate that to his charges.

I was fuming at that. It was always going to be the last kick of the half - so it was literally a free shot. Why on earth someone didn't have the cojones to shoot i just do not know, very surprised at Brownhill who is decent from distance. 

[Chappers]

Good report as ever. Interesting that 11 of the 13 players used were contracted to City last season, and Dasilva was on loan. Maybe continuity is the key, rather than excessive transfer activity.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Chris_Brown said:

Weimann is in the side for his work rate, is it time for Watkins (who also is a willing runner) to be given a chance?

Offers something slightly different to AW but perhaps would be more on the same wavelength as our other players.

Good point. Watkins played so well in Luton and Brentford games. Bit harsh he's not involved even in the squad now. Most of our players are playing well, but Weimann been off form for quite a while now.

[BTRFTG]

1 hour ago, CyderInACan said:

Why on earth someone didn't have the cojones to shoot

It's not 'the Johnson way' as evidenced by the vast majority of dead ball output we produce. For him it must knock short, ball wide right and 'box entry'.

[CyderInACan]

22 minutes ago, BTRFTG said:

It's not 'the Johnson way' as evidenced by the vast majority of dead ball output we produce. For him it must knock short, ball wide right and 'box entry'.

But they must've known there wasn't the time for that.

[BTRFTG]

2 minutes ago, CyderInACan said:

But they must've known there wasn't the time for that.

Never question the gaffer else it's the naughty step......

[Davefevs]

5 hours ago, Top Robin said:

I think we do need a better striker who would have scores some of those ones others have missed. 

Also I am concerned that teams are all over us for long periods and a decent midfielder may help prevent that.

I don’t think Reading dominated or were all over us anymore than we dominated or were all over them.  Fairly even.  A lot of sides can pass it around, but they didn’t threaten much (imho) until the last 10 minutes, much as we might do as the home side trailing 1-0.  For me, last night was a game where we passed it well enough to not feel like we were under constant pressure.  It was a relaxed watch for me  I don’t say that often!

We traded possession spells in the first half, and then improved second half. We won balls higher up the pitch than in recent weeks.

Reading: 2 big chances. Ejaria from a corner scramble. Meite back post header that led to clearance off the line twice. 
 

[Alessandro]

1 hour ago, JonDolman said:

Good point. Watkins played so well in Luton and Brentford games. Bit harsh he's not involved even in the squad now. Most of our players are playing well, but Weimann been off form for quite a while now.

May be out of the goals - but still involved and key to many of our best moves.

Thought he got himself into some good positions too last night, not to be found, one Eliasson cross and the O’Dowda run could have been cut back to him unmarked.

[pillred]

4 hours ago, maxjak said:

Thanks yet again for your excellent match report Ole.....I no longer bother with the newspaper n' main site reports for away matches............just go straight to yours.  Big shout out to our brilliant away support, and isn't it great to have Korey back?

Especially as the real Korey is at last back.

[Alex_BCFC]

Not a fan of Watkins but even I would consider giving him a game instead of Weimann who looks way off what he can be.

[Ron W]

Definitely on the right track and another very good win, but we still need more firepower. Three of our last four wins have come against the sides currently occupying the bottom three, and we have one senior fit striker.

Grinding out narrow wins with clean sheets is great but we've conceded the second-highest number of goals in the top half, so by the law of averages it's not likely to last.

[Port Said Red]

I just the watched the highlights on the OS, and I think that Bentley got a hand to the header that hit the post.....

If I am right I think @Olé owes him a slightly higher mark.

[BTRFTG]

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

I don’t think Reading dominated or were all over us anymore than we dominated or were all over them.  Fairly even.  A lot of sides can pass it around, but they didn’t threaten much (imho) until the last 10 minutes, much as we might do as the home side trailing 1-0.  For me, last night was a game where we passed it well enough to not feel like we were under constant pressure.  It was a relaxed watch for me  I don’t say that often!

We traded possession spells in the first half, and then improved second half. We won balls higher up the pitch than in recent weeks.

Reading: 2 big chances. Ejaria from a corner scramble. Meite back post header that led to clearance off the line twice. 
 

If people are to quote statistics then why not first define how such measures and terms are derived? Last night Reading put in several crosses that had they possessed a decent striker, or simply connected with somebody,  would have found the back of our net, they certainly kippered our defence by cutting us to shreds.  Are they not 'expected goals' as had their forwards  done their jobs that would have been the result? But seems these don't count as goal scoring opportunites whilst some numpty spilling one high and wide does? What's the difference?

From recall in that one exchange at the end it was post (touch from Bentley?) block and header off the line, so isn't that 3 chances? What about Swift's long range effort that brought a great save from Bentley, is that not an expected goal? Ditto their other header right at the end. Who decides these things as problem is once stats are produced they become out if context gospel?

Similarly, raw passing stats count for now't as evidenced by most keepers these days topping the charts in terms of both touches and accuracy of completed passes (not difficult when it's tippy tappy knocking it around at the back.) Why not start tracking 'significant' and ' meaningless' passes?

[Davefevs]

54 minutes ago, BTRFTG said:

If people are to quote statistics then why not first define how such measures and terms are derived?

I included it to give a simplistic view of the flow of chances by using an xG chart.  My opinion without really thinking about xG in itself was they had two big chances.  I could’ve left the pic off, but thought it might help some visualise. XG is explained by the producer of this graphic in the pic.

There has been plenty of xG discussion on otib already, and I did t include the pic to reference each individual chance as a xG value.

Last night Reading put in several crosses that had they possessed a decent striker, or simply connected with somebody,  would have found the back of our net,

I think it’s fair to say that the amount of goals that come from crosses from wide are statistically very low, good CF or not, hence defensive tactics to force crosses from wider. 

they certainly kippered our defence by cutting us to shreds.

They rarely cut us to shreds imho.  They gained good positions out wide through nice passing but generally slow in tempo.  Of course there was the odd break but not often.

Are they not 'expected goals' as had their forwards  done their jobs that would have been the result? But seems these don't count as goal scoring opportunites whilst some numpty spilling one high and wide does? What's the difference?

As above, this was not an evaluation of xG.  Your own expectation of a chance equalling a goal needs some re-evaluation!!!  Perhaps a BTRFTGxG index is required!

From recall in that one exchange at the end it was post (touch from Bentley?) block and header off the line, so isn't that 3 chances?

That’s what I said!

What about Swift's long range effort that brought a great save from Bentley, is that not an expected goal?

No, it was a speculative long shot, that wobbled and brought a smart save. Unless the BTRFTGxG index says different?

Ditto their other header right at the end. Who decides these things as problem is once stats are produced they become out if context gospel?

As above, you are challenging xG, I’m just talking about what I felt were a small number of “good chances”.  Re Gospel, that can depend on the person using them and their understanding of the collection, collation and then usage.

Similarly, raw passing stats count for now't as evidenced by most keepers these days topping the charts in terms of both touches and accuracy of completed passes (not difficult when it's tippy tappy knocking it around at the back.) Why not start tracking 'significant' and ' meaningless' passes?

A number of stats companies do exactly that.  And it costs money to see it!!!

At the end of the day you seem upset that my view of the game was different to yours in that I don’t think Reading dominated.  That’s fine. All about opinions.  

[brady bunch]

Thanks Ole,

please know that like many others, I really look forward to reading your reports (and listening to you on OSIB), but I rarely muster a reply or thank you! but just know that your efforts are much appreciated by many as a neutral honest write up that can be trusted if we did not get to see the game.

Tim.