Reading vs Tottenham, March 14th at the Madejski Stadium.

Tottenham travelled to 6th place Reading for matchday 15. Our Lilywhites were looking for their first victory of 2021 after 4 consecutive defeats, most recently against Brighton in a match where luck was just not on our side after we hit the woodwork 3 times and had 2 efforts cleared off the line. Highlights of last week’s match can be seen below.

London derby.

It was announced this week that our North London clash with Arsenal will be played at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday 27th March at 15.30. Unfortunately, the match will take place behind closed doors due to Covid restrictions but the game will be shown on the FA Player.

Line ups.

Reading lined up in a 4-4-2 with Moloney in goal, Woodham at right-back, Leine and Bartrip in the centre of defence with Mitchell in at left-back. The Reading midfield was made of Eikeland down the right-wing, Fishlock and James in the centre of midfield with Williams down the left-wing. Harries and Harding were upfront for Reading.

Tottenham lined up in a 4-3-3 with Mikalsen in goal, Morgan at right-back, Zadorsky and McManus in the centre of defence with Worm in at left-back. The Tottenham midfield was made of Percival, Kennedy and Green, while the Tottenham attack was made of Davison down the right-wing, Addison down the left-wing and Ayane in the centre forward position.

Match report.

Reading have always been a tough opponent and Tottenham knew they had to pressure Reading from the start if they wanted to take something from the game. Tottenham had their first chance of the game in the 3rd minute when good play from Morgan down the right found Kennedy who shot from distance but her effort was comfortably saved by Moloney. Reading had a chance to go ahead in the 9th minute when a Harding cross led to confusing between Kennedy and McManus in the Tottenham defence with the clearance falling to Fishlock who shot from distance but her effort was comfortable enough for Mikalsen.

Tottenham came close again in the 19th minute when Ria Percival’s corner almost flew straight in as Moloney saw it late but there was no Tottenham player to knock the ball in. Reading came back at Tottenham and in the 24th minute former Tottenham loanee Emma Mitchell found Jess Fishlock with a long ball who shot from distance but her effort took a deflection off Zadorsky for a Reading corner. The game was quite even as most of the play took place in the centre of the field, Tottenham came close in the 34th minute when a poor Reading clearance fell to Kennedy who shot from distance but slipped in the process and led to a comfortable save for Moloney. Reading began to grow more into the game in the final 7 minutes of the first half by dominating possession and Jess Fishlock had the best chance of the game in the 43rd minute when she hit the post after skipping past Morgan and McManus before Morgan got back in time to kick away the rebound before Fishlock was able to react.

• 

• 

Second Half.

Tottenham had the first chance of the second half when Ayane latched onto a McManus long ball, crossed into the Reading box but her cross was too hard for Addison who couldn’t direct the ball past Moloney. Tottenham was almost punished 3 minutes later when a mix up between Mikalsen and Kennedy led to giving the ball away to Williams who spotted Mikalsen off her line but she rushed her shot and luckily for Tottenham put her effort wide of the Tottenham goal. Tottenham came straight at Reading and should have taken the lead when Bartrip gave the ball way to Ayane who cut into the box from the right-wing, had plenty of time to pass to Percival or Addison in the middle but decided to go alone and Moloney saved comfortably from Ayane. Reading came close again in the 59th minute when Harries ran well down the left, centred into the box and Mikalsen saved well from point-blank range to deny Reading. Tottenham made a double substitution in the 66th minute with Quinn and Graham caming on for Addison and Green. They both had an immediate effect on the game as a minute after coming on, a good run and pressure from Quinn lead to a mix up at the back for Reading between Leine and Moloney which led to the ball rolling across the Reading backline but Davison was unable to poke the ball across the line before Mitchell got it away for the home side. Tottenham made their 3rd change of the game in the 73rd minute when Rachel Williams made her return from injury replacing Gemma Davison. Reading looked to finish the game the strongest of the two as Tottenham was giving the ball away cheaply in the final third giving Reading more possession but the introduction of Graham gave Tottenham some much-needed strength in midfield as she was Tottenham’s best player in the last quarter of the game as Tottenham regained control of possession. In the 81st minute, Tottenham played wonderfully from the back and Quinn found Williams with a cross into the Brighton box but Moloney came out just in time to put Williams off as she was about to pull the trigger. Tottenham continued to pile pressure onto Reading and in the 83rd minute Kit Graham crossed in from the right to the far post which Kennedy headed but her effort was well saved by Moloney to deny Tottenham the winner at the death. Tottenham certainly finished the 2nd half the strongest of the two teams but neither team was able to score and had to settle for a draw.

Player of the match.

Our player of the match goes to Shelina Zadorsky for a second week in a row. Kit Graham made a huge impact when she came on but Zadorsky again proved what an important player she is. It is rare to say that Fara Williams and Jess Fishlock have had a quiet game but Zadorsky was instrumental in making sure Reading’s biggest threats were kept quiet. Zadorsky defended well and got forward and had a chance to put our Lilywhites ahead in the second half but luck does not seem to be on her side at the minute.

Post match analysis.

Reading is always a tough match, and a point against a team like Reading can be seen as a victory considering our current run. Reading was well organised and put our defence and midfield under a huge amount of pressure in parts of the game but our Lilywhites showed they were no pushovers as they also pushed Reading back and came so close to getting the 3 points in a very evenly matched game.

There are many positives to take from the game but the issue still remains scoring goals. Most of the threat is coming from defenders and midfielders while the forwards are not scoring or doing enough to score goals. A positive for the team is that Rachel Williams made her comeback from injury in the second half which is a much-needed boost especially with the games we have coming our way in the next month. Kit Graham and Lucy Quinn made a huge impact when coming on and again demonstrated why Ayane and Davison need to be bench warmers and not starters for Tottenham. We now must focus on next week and ensure we take all 3 points against Bristol as we look to avoid relegation in our dreaded 2nd season in the WSL.

As long as Williams, Addison and Graham start and Ayane and Davison stay on the bench we should take our first 3 points of 2021 with no problems COYS!!!

Next match.

Next Sunday our Lilywhites welcome Bristol City to the Hive in a match that can be seen live on the FA Player at 14.30.