Reading 0-3 Swansea City: Match Report

Reading bowed out of the Carabao Cup at the first time of asking after they lost 3-0 against a very experienced Swansea City side.

The Royals made over 10 changes with Tom McIntyre being the only survivor from the side’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Stoke City on Saturday. Youngsters Kian Leavy, Claudio Osorio and Kelvin Ehibhationhan all made their debuts.

Swansea went in front 16 minutes into the match when Joel Latibeaudiere headed in Yan Dhanda’s set-piece delivery. Defender Ben Cabango extended the Swans’ lead on the hour mark, after the Royals failed to clear a corner.

Nelson Abbey, who was making his second senior appearance for Reading, was forced off injured with 20 minutes to play. That compelled the Royals to play the remaining minutes of the game with 10 men, after they had used all the substitutes.

Russell Martin’s team took full advantage when debutant Joel Piroe slotted in past the helpless Luke Southwood to make it a very miserable night for Velijko Paunovic’s young side.

Kian Leavy looks a promising prospect

The 16-year-old must have been in dreamland when he was told that he would be making his debut.

Leavy looked promising throughout the 90 minutes. He was always willing to get the ball in the middle of the pitch and was always trying to create something.

Additionally, he looks like a very technically gifted player: most of his first touches were first-class.

The young lad was also not afraid to make a challenge against his far more experienced opponents.

Overall Leavy had a decent night regardless of the score line and could well be a star of the future.

Poor marking from set pieces costs Reading again

Another game, another match where poor defending from a set piece has cost Reading.

Two of the goals from Tuesday night’s game came from a corner, thanks to poor defending and poor making.

Like Saturday, Reading struggled massively to defend corners and free-kicks from wide areas. It was a throwback to when Paul Clement was in charge, when the Royals always conceded a goal from a set piece every game.

If Reading are to stand any chance of having a decent season in the Championship, they will need to cut these errors out.

Signings required as soon as possible

As mentioned previously, Reading made over 10 changes from the team that lost to Stoke at the weekend. This was done to protect the first-team players to avoid any unnecessary injuries.

However, when you see the young players and how they performed, they aren’t good enough to play Championship football.

It’s not that the young players didn’t try hard enough, far from it. But over the course of a 46-game season, you need players who can step in and fill somebody’s boots for one game, maybe more.

I personally don’t see anyone who could step in and fill a senior player’s position, if for example Andy Yiadom got injured.

Before the match, there was promising news with reports from the Reading Chronicle that the club have made offers for James Garner, Louie Sibley and Alen Halilovic. However, Paunovic refused to comment on transfer speculation after the game.

Fingers crossed players can be brought in before the end of the transfer window.