Reading 1-1 Cardiff City
Sat Apr 04, 2015 5:00 pm
Conor McAleny scored an 89th minute equaliser to snatch a point for Cardiff City away at Reading on Saturday afternoon.
The game couldn't have started any worse for Cardiff, as the defence switched off and Pavel Pogrebnyak headed easily past David Marshall with just 4 minutes gone. Slade seemed to start the game with his usual tactics, hoofing the ball up to the strikers, who were Eoin Doyle and McAleny, starting for the first time together. Both did well to carve half chances for themselves, but nothing that would worry Adam Federici in the Reading goal.
The Bluebirds saw a penalty shout waved away when Craig Noone went down in the area after a challenge from Jordan Obita on 32 minutes, and then created nothing in terms of attacking chances for the rest of the first half.
McAleny and Ralls linked up well throughout the game, with possibly the best chance of the game on 51 minutes, but a slightly misplaced pass from Ralls denied McAleny his second goal for The Bluebirds, so we thought.
David Marshall was Cardiff's saviour throughout the game, with the Scotsman producing a fine goalkeeping display. First of all denying Gareth McCleary, then using his experience to keep out debutant Appiah.
Cardiff piled on the pressure in the last 10 minutes, however they were dealt a huge blow when Lee Peltier, on his return to the first team, had to be replaced on 83 minutes due to injury. With Joe Mason also making his first team return, the Irishman put in a strong performance for the 25 minutes he played.
The 89th minute saw the goal that Cardiff had been looking for, Gunnarsson played a neat ball into McAleny, who scored with a very classy finish from the edge of the box.
The draw sees Cardiff move into 13th place and Reading remaining in 19th with only six games remaining in the Sky Bet Championship season. The Bluebirds are next in action on Easter Monday with Bolton visiting The CCS.
The game couldn't have started any worse for Cardiff, as the defence switched off and Pavel Pogrebnyak headed easily past David Marshall with just 4 minutes gone. Slade seemed to start the game with his usual tactics, hoofing the ball up to the strikers, who were Eoin Doyle and McAleny, starting for the first time together. Both did well to carve half chances for themselves, but nothing that would worry Adam Federici in the Reading goal.
The Bluebirds saw a penalty shout waved away when Craig Noone went down in the area after a challenge from Jordan Obita on 32 minutes, and then created nothing in terms of attacking chances for the rest of the first half.
McAleny and Ralls linked up well throughout the game, with possibly the best chance of the game on 51 minutes, but a slightly misplaced pass from Ralls denied McAleny his second goal for The Bluebirds, so we thought.
David Marshall was Cardiff's saviour throughout the game, with the Scotsman producing a fine goalkeeping display. First of all denying Gareth McCleary, then using his experience to keep out debutant Appiah.
Cardiff piled on the pressure in the last 10 minutes, however they were dealt a huge blow when Lee Peltier, on his return to the first team, had to be replaced on 83 minutes due to injury. With Joe Mason also making his first team return, the Irishman put in a strong performance for the 25 minutes he played.
The 89th minute saw the goal that Cardiff had been looking for, Gunnarsson played a neat ball into McAleny, who scored with a very classy finish from the edge of the box.
The draw sees Cardiff move into 13th place and Reading remaining in 19th with only six games remaining in the Sky Bet Championship season. The Bluebirds are next in action on Easter Monday with Bolton visiting The CCS.