2012/13 Match Reports
Match reports from the 2012/13 season
West Ham 4 - 2 Reading: Sloppy Royals punished
Despite a spirited second half comeback, Nigel Adkins' side ended their Premier League season with a defeat, thanks to a Nolan hat trick and Vaz Te strike.
Reading 0-2 Manchester City: Very damp, some squib
Reading completed their home fixtures in the Premier League with a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City. Reading put up plenty of fight but in the end City's quality shone through as only a string of saves from Alex McCarthy kept the scoreline respectable.
Fulham 2-4 Reading: Royals Thrive With No Pressure
Yep, you read that right. Reading have won a game. It may have taken over three months, and six games of the Adkins era to pick up that win, but there was no luck involved in a classy performance in the sunshine against Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Reading 0-0 QPR: That's all folks
So that's it, Reading are once again a Championship club after just one season back in the Premier League. Today's 0-0 draw also relegated our opponents QPR and both sides will have plenty of work to do if they want to be Premier League clubs again.
Norwich 2-1 Reading - Bennetts Give Double Trouble
Well, at least the false hope is gone. Reading lost at Carrow Road on Saturday which all but certainly sends them down to the Championship with QPR. A good performance from the Royals, but two Bennetts in two minutes were the difference on the day.
Reading 0-0 Liverpool - Return Of The Mac
The last time we saw Alex McCarthy in the Reading goal, he suffered a shoulder injury at Loftus Road. What a welcome return it was, after he pulled off some truly stunning saves to ensure the Royals stopped their run of losses at home to Liverpool.
Reading 0-2 Southampton: taxi for a large singer
For whatever reason, Reading Football Club don't do 'must-win' games at home very well. Today's defeat all but ended our Premier League survival hopes as Southampton ran out clear and deserved 2-0 winners at the Madejski.
Arsenal 4-1 Reading - Hopelessly outgunned
If Nigel Adkins was under had any doubts about the size of the task facing him at Reading, today's demolition at Arsenal will have banished them, as the Royals were well beaten at Arsenal.
Man Utd 1-0 Reading: A glimmer of hope?
Reading's players can be proud of their efforts despite a 1-0 defeat at the home of the Premier League leaders. Wayne Rooney's deflected strike gave United all three points but Reading put in a spirited performance for caretaker-manager Eamonn Dolan.
Reading 1-2 Aston Villa: Commitment but no quality
Reading's survival hopes are on life support after going down to a 2-1 defeat at home to fellow strugglers Aston Villa.
Everton 3-1 Reading - Blue Day On Merseyside
Reading's first win of this Premier League season came against Everton at the Madejski Stadium in November, as Adam Le Fondre bagged two goals to turn around a half-time deficit. This time the Toffees took their chances and ran out 3-1 winners.
Reading 0-3 Wigan - The beginning of the end?
Reading's official Twitter described this as "a bad day at the office after 10 minutes of madness." I'd really like to just repost that and move on because to recap this game is about as painful a task as I've had to do since setting up this site.
Man Utd 2-1 Reading - Supersub Steals Show
Much has been made of Adam Le Fondre's prowess as a sub but it was another scintillating substitute performance which put paid to Reading's FA Cup dreams. Nani came off the Manchester United bench to seal victory for the Red Devils.
Stoke 2-1 Reading - Battling Royals outmuscled
Reading knew what they were in for when they turned up at the Britannia and they got exactly what was promised, a tough, bruising encounter that lacked quality and came down to a few key moments that went sadly went against the away side.
Reading 2-1 Sunderland: Kebe keeps Royals rolling
Clubs have always been keen on selling half-season tickets to fans wanting to taste the drama of the run-in but perhaps Reading should think about a season ticket that lets you in for the last ten minutes, as once again a late goal sealed the points.
Reading 2-2 Chelsea - Adam Good Finish
Be honest with me - at 2-0 down, did you think we were dead and buried? The last three games Reading have gone behind, they've turned it around in the second half. And yet again, Adam Le Fondrecame off the bench to rescue the Royals against Chelsea.
Reading 4-0 Sheffield United: Blades Blunted
It's a sign of the times that a 4-0 win over Sheffield United can be met with such apathy from Reading fans. It's an even stronger sign of how far we've come when a fifth round trip to Old Trafford is met by groans from the fanbase.
Newcastle 1-2 Reading - A Tale Of Two Adams
When these two sides met in September 2012, Demba Ba's arm was to deny Reading three points at the Madejski Stadium. In January 2013, these things finally evened themselves out as it was Adam Le Fondre's double which sealed the win this time around.
Reading 3-2 West Brom - Royals Bounce Back
A quite incredible turnaround from Reading saw them boing back from a Romelu Lukaku brace to secure an important 3-2 victory against West Bromwich Albion
Crawley 1-3 Reading - Royals survive early scare
After an early scare Reading came through this Third Round tie with Crawley relatively comfortably, showing their Premier League quality with two Adam Le Fondre goals to prevent a potential cup shock.
Spurs 3-1 Reading - Lennon shines Reading struggle
The Royals were left to rue not taking three golden opportunities and a hugely deflected Clint Dempsey shot to ensure they left White Hart Lane with no points.
Reading 1-0 West Ham - Episode 20: A New Hope
You'll be hard pressed to find a Royals fan that was entertained yesterday but what you will find is 22,000 odd Royals fans absolutely delighted with a vital three points. While safety still remains a long way off, we now have hope.
Reading 0-0 Swansea City - No Boxing Day KO
After the last-minute heartbreak at the Etihad, it was another pleasing defensive performance from the Royals, but they couldn't land a killer blow to grab a first win in over a month against Swansea City.
Manchester City 1-0 Reading
A controversial Gareth Barry injury-time winner sealed the three points for Manchester City in a match where Reading were unlucky not to emerge with a point.
Reading 2-5 Arsenal - No Upset, Just Dejection
6 losses in a row now in the Premier League, and Reading's survival chances look ever slimmer. Yet another goalfest at the Mad Stad saw them ship 5 to Arsene Wenger's Arsenal in another humiliating defeat.
Sunderland 3-0 Reading - Black Cats tear Royals
Another dismal performance from the Royals makes it 5 losses in a row in the Premier League, as Martin O'Neill's struggling Sunderland cruised to a 3-0 win over Reading.
Southampton 1-0 Reading: Facing a bleak winter
There's only so many times you can lose a game that's billed as a 'must not lose' before you begin to realise the writing's on the wall. While relegation is far from a mathematical certainty, you'd be a brave man to back Reading to survive now.
Reading 3-4 Manchester Utd: Proud But Pointless
Reading once again showed their fighting spirit as they came within a goal of upsetting one of the biggest sides in world football, but ultimately a lack of quality again cost them dearly as a seventh lead of the season slipped away.
Aston Villa 1-0 Reading - Royals Crumble
We said before this game, it wasn't a must win but it almost certainly was a must not lose. Unfortunately for Brian McDermott his lack of midfield options once again cost him dearly as a goal ten minutes from time consigned us to defeat at Villa.
Wigan 3-2 Reading - Gomez Leaves Royals Gutted
Reading fans would be forgiven for having that feeling of déjà vu after Jordi Gomez injury-time winner sealed a 3-2 win for Wigan which saw the Royals slip into 19th in the Barclays Premier League.
Reading 2-1 Everton - Le Finally!
This wasn't pretty, this wasn't our best performance of the season but my word was it a gutsy second half that could well set us on the path to survival.
Reading 0-0 Norwich City - Stalemate
Reading kept their first clean sheet of the season against Norwich City, but a lack of quality in the final third meant they couldn't capitalise as their match faded out into a 0-0 draw.