Back from the Game - Brighton (H)

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Remember when Brighton told us in the summer they were a much bigger club than small time Reading.

3-0

[who are ya?]

No, I don't

[Winnershroyal]

Remember when Brighton told us in the summer they were a much bigger club than small time Reading.

3-0

Strange strange game.

I thought Albion were good to be fair, and if CMS had took his first chance I could see a draw.

Shoulda wouldacoulda I suppose.

Need to play a lot better against Ipswich, Alf and Church were anonymous today, we got the breaks at the right time but the clean sheet is pleasing.

[moo]

I remember when they had Bobby Zamora and were a much bigger club than us, especially after pipping us to the Division 2 title. We made the playoffs, they got relegated

[andrew1957]

Very good game. Reading brilliant first half but Brighton came back well second half and should have scored as they had some great chances. Reading defended pretty well throughout really.

All our players did well. I have been very critical of Kebe earlier in the season but he did well today. McAnuff superb - a real Captain's performance. Legs definitely back to his best and Karacan must have run 10 miles - outstanding fitness and desire. Church and ALF fed on scraps all day but created space for the likes of McAnuff to score.

Everyone 8 out 10 today really with McAnuff MOTM with a 9.

I don't think many (me included) thought we had a chance of promotion - let alone automatic promotion - but even that looks like a real possibility now to me.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Great first half. Mcanuff & Kebe on fire up both wings.

2nd half I thought they dominated really. Kebe was as sh*t in the second as he was great in the 1st. However, a great defensive performance and a good shift from Legs/Karacan helped up out 2nd half.

The partnership of Pearce/Kaspar is f*cking immense!

[rhroyal]

Great first half. Mcanuff & Kebe on fire up both wings.

2nd half I thought they dominated really. Kebe was as sh*t in the second as he was great in the 1st. However, a great defensive performance and a good shift from Legs/Karacan helped up out 2nd half.

The partnership of Pearce/Kaspar is f*cking immense!

Pearce/Kaspar is the bedrock of our team. If this partnership gets split up, I can see a slide in form being likely.

[Toon Toon Blue army]

Up to 6th. Nice!

[tomrfcurz]

Was a very good game which i didn't really expect (don't know why just didn't really) so that was a turn up. Thought 3-0 flattered us but i felt we did do enough to win it but they definitely should have scored. Think 2-1 would have been a fair result. Leigertwood was a bit heavy but i felt he had a fairly good game. First half McAnuff kept getting himself in acres of space and tried his best to work stuff out of it resulting in his goals obviously. Cummings got caught chasing the Brighton player too much i felt and we did seem to struggle to find that killer pass in the final third. MOTM Jobi or one of the defenders (Gorkss probably)

[Svlad Cjelli]

The game was well and truly won in the first half - after that we just sat back and soaked up the pressure as Brighton attacked, and we weren't really inspired when breaking forward.

But in the first half we were way better and playing with the sort of arrogant swagger of a team full of confidence - tying things that we'd never have tried just a few weeks ago. Confidence does that - perhsp the players know that now we're doing well there won't be a collective intake of breath from the stands if anyone makes a mistake. Some of the tricks McAnuff & Kebe played in the first half to rate openings were great - none of that after teh break, but it wasn't really needed by then. But Brighton seemed massively short of confidence, especially at the back.

At the back we looked a really solid unit again - Pearce and Gorkks outstanding again - although Griffin was caught out for pace a couple of times. And I'd not have been able to complain if there had been a penalty given when he jumped into CM-S as the latter was about to head the ball. In central midfield Leigertwood & Karacan played with the sort of energy and commitment of Sidwell & Harper.

A few other random points :
- I'm convinced Church got the slightest of touches for teh second goal - so really want to see teh replay.
- How can the Brighton keeper justify a contract as a professional footballer when he's so scared to kick the ball. When he did it was OK, so I just don't understand that.
- Poyet is still full of gamesmanship and his team play in exactly the same way.

[moo]

Pearce and Gorkks were immense, but the lack of pace is very worrying at times.

[Svlad Cjelli]

Oh, and why didn't we have the announcement today : "The scorer of Reading's Third Goal - Brighton and Hove Albion"?

[Pseud O'Nym]

Oh, and why didn't we have the announcement today : "[img]The%20scorer%20of%20Reading's%20Third%20Goal%20-%20Brighton%20and%20Hove%20Albion[/img]"?

TBF that would have been a bit of a mouthful wouldn't it?

[LoyalRoyalFan]

Karacan was fantastic today. His work rate is outstanding.

Shaun Cummings has come a long way as well. So much better than Griffin.

[mr_number]

Thought we deserved to win, but possibly not by that much. Up until the first goal, we were fantastic - lovely to see it passed around on the ground so much, and trusting that we'd find a chance. McAnuff was fantastic, but most of the team played very well imo. Strange to see so little input from the strikers when we won 3-0, but that's more a compliment to the rest of the team than a discredit to them.
Was surprised they didn't get at least one with the amount of headers they had in the second half - don't know whether it was Feds playing well or them playing poorly, although I thought Feds had an excellent/ faultless game. Can't believe they didn't manage to get CMS in more often with his pace advantage over our defence. But he kept missing chances, so it doesn't really matter.
All in all, very very happy, looking forward to next year a lot!

[royalp-we]

Karacan was fantastic today. His work rate is outstanding.

Shaun Cummings has come a long way as well. So much better than Griffin.

Completely agree with those statements. Mcanuff played his socks off too

Brighton probably deserved a goal tbh, though they were dire in the first half and didn't deserve a result.

Happy we've leapfrogged dirty Leeds.... bring on the tractor boys!!!!

[NR_Royal]

As much as I love Cummings, he never stopped their winger crossing it in. He didn't seem to want to close him off at all.

[NR_Royal]

Also, I'd agree with Dellor about Brighton looking like us under Rodgers. They always wanted to play it on the ground and keep possession. This resulted in far too much backwards/sideways play and they never really took an opportunity to go forward and take a risk with possession. And so we won. Ha.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

They liked passing their goal kicks out.

[phil in cornwall]

Oh, and why didn't we have the announcement today : "[img]The%20scorer%20of%20Reading's%20Third%20Goal%20-%20Brighton%20and%20Hove%20Albion[/img]"?

TBF that would have been a bit of a mouthful wouldn't it?

It certainly would, written like that.