EPL Super Sunday: Reading vs Tottenham - LIVE Commentary

Hello and welcome to my LIVE Commentary of Reading vs Tottenham Hotspur from The Madjeski Stadium.

But first,

Yesterday's Evening Match:

Sunderland 1 Liverpool 1 

This match was played at The Stadium of Light as Sunderland hosted Liverpool. 
(MORE TO FOLLOW AFTER LIVE COMMENTARY)


This is the last match of the weekend, as both teams look for their first wins of the season.

Reading are expected to be in the relegation battle come the end of the season, so need to win points at the start where they can, especially at home. 

Tottenham are hoping for a Champions League spot this season, and a top 4 finish but they players need to gel together well with new manager Andre Villas Boas and quickly or they will drop even more points after draws against Newcastle, West Brom and Norwich.

Team Line-Ups:

Reading: McCarthy, Gunter, Pearce, Gorkss, Harte, McAnuff, Karacan, Guthrie, Leigertwood, McCleary, Pogrebnyak. 
Subs: Taylor, Shorey, Mariappa, Cummings, Robson-Kanu, Le Fondre, Hunt.

Tottenham: Friedel, Walker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Naughton, Sigurdsson, Sandro, Dembele, Lennon, Defoe, Bale.
Subs: Lloris, Dempsey, Huddlestone, Adebayor, Dawson, Townsend, Caulker.

Midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson starts today against his former club Reading who he left in 2010 for German club Hoffenheim.

Back at Reading: Tottenham midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson spent 5 years at Reading before leaving in 2010.

Hugo Lloris vs Brad Friedel continues, with the latter starting in goal.

Goalkeeping rivalry: Brad Friedel and Hugo Lloris talk during pre-match training.

Kyle Naughton replaces the injured Benoit Assou-Ekotto in the left-back position. 

£6million midfielder Clint Dempsey is on the bench, alongisde Tom Huddlestone (who despite a red card last week) appealed against a 3 match ban and won his case.

Reading vs Tottenham - LIVE Commentary

16:00: The match has kicked off at The Madjeski Stadium.
Reading are playing from left to right and Tottenham right to left. 

My prediction: Tottenham win, comofortably.

16:35:

Tottenham lead by 1 goal to nil, thanks to a great solo run by winger Aaron Lennon was finished off by striker Jermain Defoe inside the 18 yard box. 

On-form: Jermain Defoe scores his second goal for Spurs this season, after a good showing for England.

Deadlock broken: Defoe celebrates his 18th minute goal with creators Lennon, Sigurdsson and Walker.

They could be 2-0 up after a goalkeeping mistake by Reading's debutant keeper McCarthy was cleared off the line after a shot by Sigurdsson.

40:
Reading midfielder Jobi McAnuff has an ambitious shot from 20 yards out, it curls towards goal.... OVER THE BAR!!!

Nothing to trouble Friedel in goal.

Reading fans are starting to get excited, trying to motivate their players to get back into the match. 

43: Reading corner with Pogrebnyak probing inside the box, but Tottenham clear. 

45: The fourth official has signalled for two minutes of stoppage time to be added on.

45+2: Referee Howard Webb blows the whistle to end the first half at The Madjeski Stadium.

HALF-TIME SCORE:

Reading 0 Tottenham 1 

The home side are trailing by 1 goal to nil, with Defoe the goalscorer in the 18th minute.

Tottenham have played well in the first half, and Reading have struggled to trouble Brad Friedel in goal at all.
They have only had one shot, to Tottenham's 9 but they are not out of the match just yet.

Reading may feel hard done by because of a penalty shout which was not given by Howard Webb, after Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker handballed inside the penalty area from a free-kick.

Spurs may regret not taking more chances, if Reading get back into the match but the only danger man for Reading at the moment is srtiker Pavel Pogrebnyak. 

17:03: 
Referee Howard Webb blows his whistle to start the second half.

45: Reading kick off the second half. 

46: 1 minute into the second half, and you can already see that Reading have improved from the first half with a dangerous cross into the box, but no-one got to the ball.

48: Lennon runs into the box before a 1-2 pass with Sigurdsson is too powerful for him to latch onto and the ball goes out for a goal-kick.

54: Tottenham are probing for the second goal, but Reading are closing them down well.

57: Tottenham midfielder Gareth Bale has a shot from 25 yards out.... JUST WIDE!!! Close by the Welshman.

FACT: Bale has not scored for Tottenham in 17 EPL matches.

61: A Reading corner is cleared away well by Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen. 


64: Reading go on the counter attack with Le Fondre crossing the ball into the box for Pogrebnyak..... SAVED and HELD!! by Tottenham goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

65: Reading are starting to press Tottenham, and the worry signs are just creeping in for Tottenham who have lost 1-0 leads in their last few matches.

66: Bale runs down the wing for Tottenham before passing the ball inside the box towards Defoe who takes one touch before hitting the ball powerfully and high towards goal... OVER THE BAR!!!

Defoe should have at least hit the target, after Bale's skillful run at the Reading defenders.

67: Reading midfielder Danny Guthrie is clutching his face on the floor....


Replays show that he got caught by Tottenham defensive midfielder Sandro while they were both battling for possession of the ball.







68: The match continues, with Guthrie reciveing treatment on the touchline.

69: Cameras show that Andre Villas Boas is talking to substitute Tom Huddlestone.

70: Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker beats three defenders for pace and skill down the wing before puling the ball back for Gareth Bale inside the box.... he shoots... GOAL!!!!!

Bale doubles Tottenham's lead with 20 minutes to go!

71: Tottenham manager Andre Villas Boas can now make his substitution in peace:

Tottenham SUB:
Tom Huddlestone ON
Gylfi Sigurdsson OFF 

73: Reading passing the ball, before Defoe closes the defender down well... he then steals the ball off him and runs half the length of the pitch before unleashing a shot towards goal inside the box...

GOAL!!! And that wraps up the match surely?! 

75: Reading looked down after the second goal went in to be honest, and Tottenham have almost certainly sealed three points away from home.

78: Tottenham SUB:
Gareth Bale OFF
Clint Dempsey ON

Good decision by AVB to take Bale off, he has played a lot recently for Wales so Dempsey gets his first 10+ minutes for his new club.

80: 10 minutes left to play plus stoppages, and Tottenham are in total control.

Reading have improved since the first half, but have hardly had any shots and Spurs have been a class above their opponents today.


83: Reading SUBS:

Danny Guthrie OFF
Pavel Pogbrenyak OFF
Noel Hunt ON
Hal Robson-Kanu ON


85: 
SHOTS:
Reading 2, Tottenham 19.


That stat says a lot about the match in truth.... Reading could have made life harded for Tottenham, if they had more SHOTS


86: Adam Le Fondre has a shot cleared off the line by Tottenham defender William Gallas. 


That re-enforces my point that Reading have been unlucky and it they had more chances in-front of goal, the score-line would not be so one sided.


87: Tottenham SUB:
Aaron Lennon OFF
Andros Townsend ON



Townsend is coming on for a burst of pace. Lennon is being rested after a good performance, running down the wings all day long.


89: Adam Le Fondre runs down the wing for Reading on the counter attack before unleashing a chip over goalkeeper Brad Friedel's head towards the far post of the goal.

Substitute Hal Robson-Kanu is lurking there and sprints to reach the ball and tap in  into the net. 


3-1 and Reading get a consolation goal at home. If only...


90: The fourth official has signalled for three minutes of stoppage time.


90+2: Howard Webb brandishes striker Jermain Defoe with a yellow card for decent.



90+3: Howard Webb blows the whistle to end the match at The Madjeski Stadium, after defender William Gallas bodychecks a Reading midfielder inside the box and the Reading players scream for a penalty...


FULL-TIME SCORE:


Reading 1 Tottenham 3

Tottenham dominated and were in total control throughout the match.

Reading will have wished that they had taken more shots because the 1 out of 4 that they took was a goal.

My Man Of The Match: Jermain Defoe

He scored twice for Tottenham, and could have scored 4 or 5. 
Was always making runs and was a danger to Reading throughout the match. 


After that result:

Tottenham have moved up to 10th place, while Reading are stuck in 19th in the table.

The pressure is slowly but surely lifting for Tottenham's new manager Andre Villas Boas but there is still work to be done, after a late goal being conceded and consistency which is needed for a top 4 finish this season.


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I will be back later next week with a UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League 1st Group Match update.

But before I leave you;

Here are next week's European matches (involving EPL sides):

UEFA Champions League (19:45pm):

Tuesday:

Group B:
Montpellier vs Arsenal

Group D:

Real Madrid vs Manchester City

Wednesday:

Group E:

Chelsea vs Juventus

Group H:

Manchester United vs Galatasaray

 

UEFA Europa League (18:00pm unless stated)

Thursday:

Group A:
Young Boys vs Liverpool

Group D:
Maritimo vs Newcastle

Group J: 
Tottenham vs Lazio - LIVE at 20:05pm