Barnsley 2-2 Reading: Hearts Of Oak(well)
The Royals mathematically secured safety with an impressive result at playoff-chasing Barnsley, thanks to goals from Sam Smith and Lewis Wing.
Reading love getting a 1-1 draw at Oakwell so much - 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022 - that they decided to do it once in each half today. Stalemates before and after the break added up to a creditable 2-2 draw, a result that I’m sure most of us would have taken before kickoff.
In stark contrast to earlier this season, it’s also a result that doesn’t feel all that surprising, despite Barnsley’s status as playoff pursuers. The Royals were not only particularly poor at winning league away games before the 2-1 victory at Wycombe Wanderers in late November, they were also noticeably naff at picking up points on the road at all. Eight opening league away games, eight defeats.
The Reading FC of April 2024 however is one that’s increasingly authoritative when it’s playing away from home. In recent months we’ve seen the Royals become ever more confident and knowledgeable when it comes to grinding out away points. We’ve even seen them do it in some style, and Tuesday’s win at Bristol Rovers was a pleasingly pure example of that.
Today’s performance was more impressive though. On Tuesday Reading didn’t have to keep its foot on the gas to see off a really poor home side, although they did so comfortably and entertainingly. At Oakwell the Royals had to be braver, cannier and really on it throughout the contest, but they passed with flying colours.
This wasn’t Reading being passive and playing Barnsley at their game. No, Ruben Selles’ side came to Oakwell to play their way, to be aggressive and make the home side react. To use a word the gaffer picked out soon after his arrival last summer, it’s Reading who were the protagonists.
On numerous occasions we saw Selles’ brand of aggressive pressing football really shine through. It was hardly constant domination from the Royals, but when they got into one of those passages of getting properly stuck into Barnsley high up the pitch - barely giving them time to think, let alone build attacks - it was a joy to watch.
A quick glance at the stats shows just how positive Reading were. The Royals put in a whopping 34 tackles, with a success rate of around 80% (for context the Tykes managed 22 and 50% respectively). They even peppered Liam Roberts’ goal with 22 shots: the kind of number you’d associate with an easier home encounter played on the front foot, not a difficult away match.
Outside those brighter spells, Reading were still on their game. The hosts had their share of the action, starting the first half fairly well and looking noticeably the stronger side for a while into the second, and the Royals had to stand up to that. A young starting back four (including Kelvin Abrefa for the first time in the league) was resilient, disciplined and focused, and made life easier for both of Reading’s ‘keepers: Joel Pereira started but had to be replaced at the interval by David Button.
It was the kind of display that underlined not only just how far Reading have come in the last five months, but also how exciting the future could be. Give this team a chance - with proper stability and backing off the pitch - and it’ll go places.
The afternoon started with Selles making two changes to the side that won 2-0 at Bristol Rovers in midweek. Out went the injured Andy Yiadom, replaced by Kelvin Abrefa, who’s been around since the 2021/22 season but had previously been restricted to bench appearances in the league or starts in the cup. And predictably the Royals swapped left-wingers yet again, with Selles this time opting for Paul Mukairu over Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan.
Reading (4-1-4-1): Pereira; Abrefa, Mbengue, Bindon, Mola; Wing; Azeez, Elliott, Knibbs, Mukairu; Smith
Subs: Button, Ryan*, Rushesha, Savage, Craig, Ehibhatiomhan, Wareham
*That’s John Ryan, a versatile young Irish full-back who joined Reading’s academy last summer from Sassuolo.
Both sides started OK but weren’t really on their game in the opening 15 minutes or so. Reading didn’t test Roberts, while the hosts looked for openings with long balls in behind but did so in vain. A whipped cross to the back post, which just evaded Nicky Cadden, was the closest opening.
Reading started to increase the tempo a quarter of an hour in though, harrying Barnsley in their third and beginning to create chances. Mukairu probably should have done better with one of those when played in on the left (saved at the near post), while Femi Azeez and Sam Smith also had opportunities from further out.
The latter found the breakthrough from close range in the 21st minute, set up by the former. Azeez whipped an inswinging corner into the area and Smith, a few yards out, glanced it home for 1-0. He tends to score in bursts and, with his second in as many games, perhaps this is his third such burst of the season.
Barnsley responded soon after though, in one of the few times all afternoon they really opened Reading up. John McAtee did well to burst to the byline on their left wing and dink the ball into the area so that Adam Phillips, in a similar spot to Smith down the other end, could nod home for 1-1.
Reading saw the half out, despite an injury to Pereira around 40 minutes in, when his head needed bandaging up after a coming-together with a Barnsley player. They could even have gone into the break ahead, but Mukairu again didn’t make the most of a pretty close-range effort on the left.
Pereira had stayed on until the interval, but Selles didn’t risk him for the second 45. On came Button.
Barnsley had the better of the game for a while into the second half, with Reading on the back foot, not able to maintain the aggression and pressure we’d seen in the first half. The hosts carried more of a threat too, and should have made it 2-1 shortly after the hour mark when Tyler Bindon lost the ball cheaply on the left and a low cross found Devante Cole in the six-yard box, but his flick was straight at Button.
To alter the flow of the game Selles had swapped Ehibhatiomhan for Mukairu after an hour, and the substitute created Reading’s first big chance of the second half. On 68 minutes he did terrifically to burst down the left to the byline and cut it back for Smith, but he skewed his close-range finish and the ball rolled agonisingly wide of the far post.
Reading were buoyed though, and from around 70 minutes in they started to reassert themselves on Barnsley. Ehibhatiomhan had chances of his own - including at the end of a beautifully worked counter from the right flank to the flank - as did Azeez and Lewis Wing.
Wing scoring screamers is as inevitable as death, taxes and cliches in match reports however, and he added yet another to his collection in the 81st minute, thumping home from outside the area. A word too for Amadou Mbengue here, who’d put Reading on the front foot initially with a drive upfield and then, after his effort was blocked, he won the ball back with a header, setting up Wing in space.
Reading’s lead lasted a matter of minutes though. Fabio Jalo converted from a long, Mbengue-esque throw into the area from the left, and parity was once again restored.
Both sides had openings in the remainder of the game, with an Azeez effort curled wide the closest Reading came to making it 3-2. What was particularly pleasing however was Reading’s ability to reduce the pressure on their own goal in the closing stages. We’ve seen home sides bombard the Royals in search of a late goal plenty of times before, but this time Reading weren’t so under the cosh.
That earned Reading a valuable point, one that was good enough to mathematically secure League One survival - bar any rogue points deductions from the EFL. The Royals can’t be caught by Port Vale and can be caught by Burton Albion or Cheltenham Town, but not both as they’re still to play each other.
From a Reading perspective however that’s two wins, two draws and a loss since the international break - a solid return just when the Royals needed it the most. And now we can enjoy a stress-free finish to the season, although there’s still plenty to play for off the pitch.