Reading FC 3-0 Burton Albion: The Continuous Rise

It has been a long couple of weeks with the international break, but the Royals came back with a bang with a brilliant victory against Burton Albion.

Today for myself personally, was a trip down memory lane. 10 years ago my family moved from Burton-on-Trent down to West Sussex, so having spent most of my teenage years in Burton, it was great to see them doing so well (or not) in the Championship, as when I moved, they were still in the Conference. There has only been one other fixture between the two, with the Royals coming out on top with a 5-1 victory in the League Cup in 2009.

But, Saturday was about a great 3-0 victory for the Royals which means we are now third. To think that this time last year, Steve Clarke was about to leave for Fulham or not, so it's good to see positive times return to the Club after what has been a tough few seasons.

First-Half

With Yann Kermorgant out, it was time for Jaap Stam to make the decision to start Dominic Samuel, which is something that fans have wanted for a while, and he didn't disappoint. Stam also made the decision to play three at the back, with Jordan Obita and Chris Gunter as wing backs, which worked.

After a bit of a slow start for the Royals, Samuel's had a chance to make it 1-0 early on, but hit the side netting. It wasn't long before he made it 1-0 for real. it was a good move down the left from Roy Beerens before Samuel made contact to score his first goal for the Royals.

It didn't take long for Reading to make it two, in a similar move down the left, this time Obita slotted the ball through for Danny Williams to score our second.

As always, the Royals didn't make it particularly easy for themselves, and Burton had their chances, but luckily, they weren't at the races.

Second-Half

The second period was a much quieter affair. Speaking of quiet, the Madejski only had 15,545 inside this afternoon, with just over 400 from Burton - they have no excuse, I made the four-and-a-half hour journey every weekend for four years! But they did make quite a bit of noise with their drum!

The Brewers had more chances in the second half but wasted them. Jaap made some changes, as Samuel was replaced by Yakou Meite and Joseph Mendes came on for Garath McCleary. It didn't take long for Meite to make an impact, after some good work down the right, his left footed shot was saved by Burton goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin, before it was rebounded into the net by Brewers defender John Brayford.

Stam was of course playing down the victory after the game and even he got a ticking off from the Referee today after it looked like Samuel had a good shout for a penalty. It was rather amusing watching Keith Stroud stand in front of the former Man United defender.

So overall, it was a fantastic weekend for the Royals, with the three points putting us in our highest position in the league for over a year, four wins and clean sheets on the trot, it is all looking good for Reading. Next up, is Bristol City at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday, but for now, lets enjoy the victory!

URZZ!

Reading: Al-Habsi, Blackett, McShane, Moore, Obita, Gunter, Evans, Williams, Beerens (Kelly), McCleary (Mendes), Samuel (Meite)

****

Points change on this stage in 2015/16 (52): +4

Points change on this stage in 2005/06 (106): -7

Points change on this stage in 1997/98 (42): +13

Projected Points Total 2016/17: 84