Reading deservedly came out on top in a highly entertaining match which simmered through the first half before coming to the boil just after half time with the award of a penalty for the Royals. Although Reading once again failed to convert the penalty, Beerens gave them the lead reacting fastest to smash home the rebound from Swift's spot kick. In a dramatic finale Al Habsi saved a penalty awarded to Fulham almost on full time to deny the visitors an equaliser. Reading saw out the five minutes of stoppage time to claim the three points which lifted them back into third place in the Championship.
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Al Habsi Penalty Save Secures Win Over Fulham
From the Discussion
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PI PieEater 24 Jan 2017 · 10:27pm
That was a well deserved win on a freezing night. First half I thought we were pretty poor with a new 5-3-2 formation to match Fulham, they looked a lot better team than us and I think we were lucky to get to half time 0-0. GMac missed a tap in from a yard but I think he was offside. otherwise we offered no threat and just tried to nullify Fulham. Second half we got a break, I'm not sure how much of a pen it was, and we've now missed 7 out of the last 10 (but scored 9), but that gave us a lot confidence and should of scored 2 or 3 more. Gmac hit the bar and both him and Beerens were wasteful on breakaways. Fulham never really…
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RO Royalwaster 24 Jan 2017 · 10:36pm
Are we the worst team in the FL on penalties ... at least we score on the rebound, but missing that many penalties is absurd.
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PT Pepe the Horseman 24 Jan 2017 · 10:38pm
Fulham have missed 23 penalties this season.
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PI PieEater 24 Jan 2017 · 10:41pm
The BBC site says Fulham have missed 7 in 9, so they are worse than us :lol:
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RO Royalwaster 24 Jan 2017 · 10:42pm
Are we the worst team in the FL on penalties ... at least we score on the rebound, but missing that many penalties is absurd. Well apparently Fulham ... they've missed 7 penalties this season. They need to practice the rebound ...
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JM John Madejski's Wallet 24 Jan 2017 · 10:55pm
Well that was fun :D 2 awful pens Was really intrigued by not having a striker, but we played with a lot of zip and purpose looking to get our front 3 in behind. Turns out we looked a lot more dangerous. Swift and Kelly played a lot of lovely balls around the corner to each other. Really good to see the team defending from the front and doing to Fulham what other teams have been doing to us (pressuring us into making mistakes) If only Williams had a bit more speed of thought (and feet) when in the oppo box, as otherwise I thought he was imperious tonight. He was everywhere, hassling, hurrying, driving forward. Really not sure on…
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RG Royal Ginger 24 Jan 2017 · 11:00pm
I thoroughly enjoyed that. Of the 5 halfs I've watched us play against Fulham this year, the 5th was the best. Chris Martin lost that for them as much as any of our guys won it for us. His body language was awful, and he looked rusty, jaded and unfit. Fair fukcs to Stam, he finally worked them out to an extent. McShane was very good but almost talked himself into a red card more than once. Al-Habsi was obviously the hero, but a mix of the Fulham press and his recent mistakes gave him no confidence with his short pass. Hopefully 10,000+ people chanting his name will sort that. I don't think that Stam wanted to use Ilori as a wing…
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WA WAZZOCK 24 Jan 2017 · 11:00pm
Aside from being poor defensively, Blackett was taken off because he picked up a knock. Tiago's performance showed plenty of promise. Kelly was phenomenal to watch, and Swift was back to his elegant self. Beerens had his best game for quite a while, and McCleary looked good in a position he was clearly not used to. McShane, JVDB and Moore were all superb. Very, very happy with that result, it could turn out to be a big win.