Reading vs Burnley. Sky Bet Championship.
Select Car Leasing StadiumAttendance19,476.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Reading and Burnley at the Select Car Leasing Stadium as the Royals and the Clarets battled to a goalless draw on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday 15 April 2023 18:58, UK
Already promoted Burnley still have to wait to be crowned champions of the Sky Bet Championship after being held to a 0-0 draw by relegation-threatened Reading.
With nearest yet distant challengers Sheffield United defeating Cardiff 4-1 earlier in the day, Burnley could not secure the title in Berkshire.
In a first half of little note, with neither side particularly threatening, Manuel Benson produced the best effort by forcing a fine save from home goalkeeper Joe Lumley.
The second half was also lacking in any substantial goal threat all round and Reading were the happier to secure a valuable point in their battle against the drop.
Having clinched a quick return to the Premier League by winning 2-1 at Middlesbrough 2-1 on April 7, Burnley extended their unbeaten league run to 20 matches on Easter Monday after defeating 10-man Sheffield United 2-0 at Turf Moor.
Reading manager Paul Ince was dismissed on Tuesday after 14 months in charge, with under-21s boss Noel Hunt - a former Royals striker - taking over on an interim basis until the end of the season.
It was Vincent Kompany's side who controlled the early proceedings at the SCL Stadium, with Charlie Taylor often to the fore as the overlapping left back.
From a Taylor cross deep to the far post, Scott Twine half-volleyed wide from the tightest of angles.
Burnley kept up the pressure with Benson galloping clear on the right - but his low drive was smartly stopped by the diving Lumley.
However, they were dealt a blow in the 18th minute when 19-goal top scorer Nathan Tella had to be replaced after appearing to pull up with a hamstring problem.
Twine saw a shot deflected behind before Reading finally made inroads into the otherwise untested Burnley defence.
Jeff Hendrick tried his luck from distance - but it was well off target - and then 19-year-old Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan nodded over from a Femi Azeez cross.
Reading opened the second period in promising fashion, with Azeez's low cross fizzing across the face of the Clarets goal.
But, much to his frustration, there was no team-mate on hand to touch it in.
Burnley responded quickly when Johann Berg Gudmundsson found space on the edge of the home area.
But with Lumley struggling to reach his powerful attempt, the ball sailed narrowly wide.
Taylor also chanced his arm from distance - about 30 yards out - but Lumley, this time, could watch it drift harmlessly wide.
Reading broke away with 20 minutes left, through the always lively Azeez, but the youngster cut in on to his weaker right foot and the chance went begging.
Burnley had to play out stoppage time with 10 men - Benson limping off injured and Kompany having used his three substitute windows - but they held on easily for the draw.
Reading's Noel Hunt:
"It's probably the first time that it actually sunk in, what I was doing. Yes, I did get quite emotional out there. I didn't think I would. But I had a look while the stadium was empty, to have a quiet moment and just take in the surroundings. And I thought: 'Jeez, I'm actually managing this team'. It was the first time that I thought 'this is it'. It couldn't have gone much better? Well, we could have won the game! No, I'm being greedy there. I thought that we were really good. I thought that the boys were amazing - the shape that they kept, the discipline that they showed and how they moved.
"And I thought that when we countered, with a little bit more luck and little bit more detail, we could have hurt Burnley. But in terms of all that, it's a good point for us. I don't think we made massive changes. It was just a case of looking at the squad and trying to give the boys in there, who have been slogging away all season, a bit of a rest. We've got a thin senior squad in terms of who we have available. We've got a lot on the treatment table. So it was a case of just getting in some [fresh] legs to help them. They have had to put their bodies through it every week."
Burnley's Vincent Kompany:
"With all our changes, the biggest challenge is to see whether your team is still going to look the same. Is it going to have that same kind of identity? Today, there wasn't any issues on that. We recovered the ball quite well, we defended well and hence the clean sheet. And I felt that we looked after the ball okay. The only thing was that, when we got into the final third, we weren't dangerous enough with the chances that we created. And we probably could have created a few more if the final ball had been better.
"Then, it was a mixture of Reading defending really well, putting their bodies on the line. You have to do these things when you're fighting for your life. And also a mix of us being a little bit inefficient at times. But I can't deny the fact that, actually, it's not a bad result for us. I would be more worried if we didn't create any chances but that wasn't the case.
"There are other times when it has happened like this. Like when we played Blackpool away [a 0-0 draw last month]. It was a similar kind of storyline, these teams are fighting for their lives. It's just not as easy as you think it is. It's something that you have to take into account. We still want to get results, we still want to be competitive. But it's also important to see [other] players as well. We want to see them before the end of the season. We have to use this period of time well. We want to win as much as anyone else but we have one advantage between now and the end of the season - that we have a little bit of time on our hands."
