Norwich City 4-1 Reading: Player Ratings

Rafael: 7

Completely stitched up by Holmes for the first and fourth goal. Made one good save from Emi Buendia before the first goal and made a few important stops after the interval. And in all fairness, the Brazilian probably stopped it from being more than four. There were questions over the second goal but, for me, despite my criticism of the goalkeeper throughout the season, he couldn’t do anything about that particular strike. A good save from a one-on-one too - I feel for him today.

Omar Richards: 6

The Bayern-bound full back was characteristically tidy on the ball and wasn’t at fault for any of the four goals. Was beaten by Max Aarons at one point in the second half but managed to get forward a few times himself. Just needs more of an end product.

Lewis Gibson: 5

Although he was part of a defence that conceded four goals, Gibson wasn’t that bad. He didn’t exactly look assured at the back, that’s for sure, and was caught out once or twice but it was his central defensive partner that had an absolute nightmare.

Tom Holmes: 4

Deary me, this was a terrible game for Tom Holmes. Aside from the two costly errors, Holmes was fine and even cleared one off the line in the first half. However, I can’t look past the two moments of madness that were both completely avoidable. Let’s hope he bounces back well against Huddersfield Town. He needs to cut those mistakes out if he wants to start for the Royals in 2021/22.

Andy Yiadom: 7

Some of Yiadom’s tackles were brilliant - and he had one spell in the second half when he made two fantastic challenges AND put in a vital block. Without doubt, he was the best defender today. Although the second goal came down his side, it was Ejaria who had to do better. He’s another player, along with Rafael, who I feel sorry for today because the Ghanaian was very good in parts.

Josh Laurent: 6

Although Laurent would have been disappointed if he had missed the chance, the midfielder remained composed in front of goal to put the Royals 1-0 up. Unmarked, he could have easily snatched at the opportunity, but his calmness alone gave his team the advantage. More generally, he didn’t do anything amazing in the centre of the park alongside Tetek but wasn’t bad either.

Dejan Tetek: 6

Tim Dellor called him ‘efficient and tidy’ - and I totally agree with this assessment. Against a team at the top of the Championship table, it was always going to be a tough task for an inexperienced Tetek, but he certainly didn’t look out of place in the Reading team. Just one more thing to add: it was only 2-1 when he went off...

Ovie Ejaria: 5

As I have already said, Ejaria needed to do more for the second goal. He lost his man way too easily and, going forward, he wasn’t able to do much either. It was a classic 5/10 performance - a really disappointing afternoon for him. There’s nothing else to add to that - just a really ‘meh’ display.

John Swift: 5

The midfielder nearly slipped Olise in with an audacious pass just before half time - but didn’t do anything brilliant of note between the 36th minute (when I was able to get on iFollow) and when he went off. He will be in line to start against next weekend.

Michael Olise: 6

Because of the assist and some nice touches, he gets a 6. However, Olise wasn’t able to have a huge impact on the game and missed a golden opportunity just before the interval. If he scores that, it’s a completely different game at 2-1. But we can’t blame him for a very poor second-half performance.

Lucas Joao: 5

Anonymous. It’s the Joao we have become accustomed to seeing in the last month or two. To be fair to him, he had literally no service for much of the game and seemed to pick up a knock late on in the first half. He did lose the ball at one point in the second half which nearly led to another Norwich goal though. Is it time to give someone else a chance? Or was Joao just unlucky today? I would probably say yes to both questions.

Subs

Yakou Meite: 5

Like Joao, Meite was also anonymous up top and didn’t have the impact on the game Paunovic would have wanted him to.

Alfa Semedo: 5

In one move, Semedo made a bad error, conceded a dangerous free kick and picked up a yellow card for his troubles. That pretty much summed up his afternoon and in his penultimate appearance for the Royals, he will be disappointed with how he performed.

Tomas Esteves: 5

Didn’t do a huge amount wrong but did make one error. Was unable to get on the score sheet again this weekend but the teenager was probably the substitute who was most involved in the action.

Mamadi Camara: N/A

Wasn’t on long enough for me to fairly assess his performance. He will be hoping to get on for longer against Huddersfield next weekend.

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iFollow: 0

Shocker. After finally getting on to iFollow 36 minutes into the game, they still charged us all £10. Full price! Not the first time we have questioned the ability of this service - and it probably needs to be the first one out the door this summer.

Worst performer today and that’s saying something, considering we just lost 4-1 and one of our centre backs made two huge errors.

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Average: 5.5/10

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