Reading vs Blackburn Rovers. Sky Bet Championship.
Select Car Leasing StadiumAttendance12,805.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Reading and Blackburn Rovers at the Select Car Leasing Stadium as a superb late strike from Josh Laurent sealed a 1-0 win for Paul Ince's Royals
Saturday 19 March 2022 18:43, UK
Blackburn's Sky Bet Championship play-off hopes suffered a setback after they lost 1-0 at relegation-threatened Reading.
Rovers were on the back foot for most of the first half and were indebted to goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski for a series of fine saves.
Although Blackburn improved after the break, Reading broke the deadlock in the 78th minute - securing a much-needed victory - with a superb 25-yard drive from Josh Laurent.
Blackburn's poor recent run of only one win in nine matches - and just one goal scored - had come to an end when they defeated Derby 3-1 at Ewood Park on Tuesday.
Reading had sat only two points from safety but were buoyed by the 2-0 loss of relegation rivals Barnsley at Sheffield United and the 1-1 draw of fellow strugglers Derby with Coventry in the earlier kick-offs.
Interim manager Paul Ince, who replaced the departed Veljko Paunovic last month, saw his side halt a sequence of three successive defeats under his guidance with a gritty 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Rovers, who dropped from fourth to fifth place after Sheffield United's victory, started sluggishly in the Berkshire sunshine.
Promising forward moves often broke down on the edge of the home area, with striker Sam Gallagher isolated up front and lacking service.
Searching low crosses from Reda Khadra and Ryan Giles did cause problems but no team-mates were on hand to provide what would have been close-range finishes.
It was Reading, though, who created the first chance, when Tom McIntyre crossed from the left flank.
Tom Ince controlled the ball well but his resultant effort was too close to Kaminski, who made a smothering save.
Kaminski was soon in action again, first tipping over an angled drive from Andy Yiadom and then keeping out Lucas Joao's goalbound downward header.
Rovers were becoming increasingly pegged back, with Kaminski forced to come to the rescue again just before the break when he touched over a powerful attempt from Laurent.
Blackburn regained some form of control at the start of the second half, with Tyrhys Dolan and Gallagher both off target with ambitious snapshots.
Reading replied through defender McIntyre, whose low effort from the edge of the Rovers area was pushed away by the agile Kaminski.
But Rovers responded swiftly, with home keeper Orjan Nyland having to react smartly to turn over a fierce drive from John Buckley.
Full back Darragh Lenihan then nodded a good opportunity straight at Nyland.
Reading hit back and went in front 12 minutes from time, when Laurent picked up a loose ball and curled home an exquisite effort past Kaminski.
Try as they did towards the end, Rovers were unable to find the equaliser.
Reading's Paul Ince: "Defensively, we were outstanding. The back four had to defend at times because it all got a little bit nervy. In many ways it was probably a perfect performance - apart from the chances we missed in the first half. We should have been 3-0 up at half-time. We need to be more ruthless. That makes it a much easier day for the old
ticker! But then again, listen - it was a clean sheet, which is very important, and we also got that amazing goal from Josh. It was a real wonder goal. OK, we were hanging on a bit at the end and we had to really defend.
"We were playing against a really good side, who are going for the play-offs, so to get that result is so important. We started a bit slowly but, after about 15 minutes, we grew into the game. We were by far the better side and could have put the game to bed. And then you go in at half-time thinking, 'Are we going to get punished for that in the second half?' But our lads have got an incredible spirit about them.
"We've had a tough week - going to Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, two top teams. And then this game. We've been down to the bare bones with our squad. We've had Covid, we've had illnesses, we've had viruses. But the lads have put in a really good shift this week. If you'd have said to me we'd get four points from those three games, I'd
have snatched your hand off."
Blackburn's Tony Mowbray: "I haven't got many thoughts on that game, other than it's so disappointing. It's yet another game where we failed to score a goal. A lot of the time, we just huffed and puffed. I thought that we were pretty dominant for the first 20 minutes. There was only one team in it. But Reading ground their way back into the game and had some efforts towards the end of the first half. We started the second half positively. We missed a few great opportunities, as we've tended to do recently, and we ended up losing the game.
"It was a pretty poor clearance from us but a good finish from the kid (Laurent) to put it in the top corner. It's another day without scoring, it's another defeat. Not scoring has been a pretty common theme in recent weeks. We basically try to be pretty solid and not give too much away. But we're just not scoring goals. And yet, in just about every game, we've had amazing opportunities to get that first goal and potentially win 1-0 on the back of that. But we don't take them and then we end up losing 1-0."
