Saturday, April 04, 2009

Coventry 0 Reading 0 - 04/04/2009

Coventry 0 Reading 0 - 04/04/2009

Coventry City: Keiren Westwood, Stephen Wright, Ben Turner, Daniel Fox, Scott Dann, Guillaume Beuzelin, Aron Gunnarsson, Jordan Henderson (Isaac Osbourne 60), Freddy Eastwood (Marcus Hall 85), Clinton Morrison, Leon Best (Robbie Simpson 45)
Subs not used: Andy Marshall, Elliott Ward
Booked: Stephen Wright 49, Ben Turner 38, Daniel Fox 51, Clinton Morrison 54
Goals: -

Reading: Marcus Hahnemann, Julian Kelly, Michael Duberry, Andre Bikey, Chris Armstrong, Jay Tabb (Noel Hunt 82), Kalifa Cisse, James Harper (Stephen Hunt 68), Glen Little (Marek Matejovsky 68), Shane Long, David Kitson
Subs not used: Alex Pearce, Adam Federici
Booked: Jay Tabb 67, James Harper 48, Andre Bikey 55
Goals: -

Attendance: 17218
Referee: T Kettle

Teamtalk
Reading's hopes of automatic promotion from the Championship suffered another setback with a 0-0 draw against Coventry at the Ricoh Arena.

With leaders Wolves and second-placed Birmingham set to clash at St Andrew's on Monday evening, the Royals had the chance to move to within one point of Alex McLeish's side.

It was never going to be an easy assignment against a team that had beaten the top two at the Ricoh Arena this season in a run that had seen Coventry win seven of their previous 10 home games in all competitions.

But Reading, now with just four wins from their last 16 league games, never hit their stride and could consider themselves fortunate not to be returning to Berkshire on the back of a defeat after Coventry dominated and created the better chances.

Sky Blues boss Chris Coleman opted for an attacking line-up with three strikers and all of them had a sight of goal within the opening quarter of an hour.

Leon Best shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area and top scorer Clinton Morrison did likewise from 12 yards before Freddy Eastwood had a goalbound effort blocked.

Shane Long tried his luck from long range as Reading threatened for the first time after 20 minutes but City goalkeeper Keiren Westwood was not troubled.

Coventry continued to probe and captain Scott Dann should have done better than direct his header straight at Marcus Hahnemann when he got on the end of Dan Fox's free-kick midway through the half.

The Sky Blues wasted an even better chance just after the half-hour mark when Reading failed to clear a corner.

The ball broke to Guillaume Beuzelin 12 yards out in the centre of the area but the unmarked Frenchman sent his shot wide.

Coventry were forced to make a change at half-time with Robbie Simpson replacing the injured Best, but it looked like they would resume where they had left off in the first half when Aron Gunnarsson threatened immediately after the restart.

But their momentum was disrupted by a testy passage of play that saw five players booked in the opening nine minutes of the second half.

City trio Stephen Wright, Fox and Morrison had their names taken by referee Trevor Kettle, while James Harper and Andre Bikey were the Reading players cautioned.

They followed Ben Turner into Kettle's notebook after the Coventry defender received a yellow card just before the break.

Morrison tested Hahnemann with a 20-yard shot just after the hour mark before Jay Tabb, making his first return to the Ricoh Arena since leaving Coventry in January, became the seventh player to be booked after fouling Wright.

The diminutive midfielder then almost broke the heart of his former club with a 30-yard shot that whistled narrowly past the top corner after 77 minutes.

At the other end, Beuzelin spurned another glorious chance by again shooting wide from inside the box after Morrison had set him up.

Substitute Simpson could have earned all three points for Coventry deep into injury-time but his header from Fox's corner went past the far post.

CCFC
Coventry City made it two games unbeaten at the Ricoh Arena after a goalless draw with promotion-chasing Reading.

In what turned out to be a game largely lacking in clear cut opportunities, a few nailbiting situations in the final ten minutes added a bit of excitement to the clash but ultimately it was a game which had draw written all over it.

The opening 45 minutes was littered by half-chances but nothing clear cut as Kalifa Cisse unleashed the first effort of the match after two minutes, a half-volley slashed well wide.

Leon Best had an almost identical effort for the Sky Blues after nine minutes, wildly swinging at a bouncing ball but dragging it across Marcus Hahnemann's goalmouth from the corner of the penalty area.

Best also played a part in City's next effort four minutes later, providing a delicate cross into the box for Aron Gunnarsson who was just beaten to the ball by the head of Andre Bikey.

Jordan Henderson had the best chance of the first half to open the scoring on 23 minutes, coming within a bootlace of dispossessing Hahnemann infront of his goal although the 'keeper was able to just steer the ball away from danger.

Henderson had another chance to get his second goal for the Sky Blues three minutes after the half-hour mark, Danny Fox's corner sparking a mini goalmouth scramble which ended with the Tyneside winger steering a shot just wide of the post.

And Best also caused some minor excitement a miute before the end of the first half, running onto Henderson's through ball but being marginally beaten to it by Hahnemann who came off his line to get down low and wrap the ball up.

The second half started a bit more wildly as referee Terry Kettle handed out five bookings in the first ten minutes of the second period.

James Harper was first into the book for a foul on Guillaume Beuzelin quickly followed by Stephen Wright, Fox and Clinton Morrison before Bikey finished off the spate of yellows.

Bar the early hot-blooded nature of the opening second-half exchangees though, play soon reverted to the more composed fashion shown in the opening 45 minutes.

Infact it took a 76th minute effort from Jay Tabb to liven up proceedings, his effort flying just wide of Westwood's post.

And just three minutes later the Sky Blues almost benefitted from their own great piece of counter-attacking play.

Osbourne did well to hold up two players before releasing substitute Robbie Simpson down the right flank, Simpson cutting inside and playing the ball to Morrison with his back to goal who teed up Beuzelin to shoot just wide.

Royals substitute Noel Hunt had City fans' hearts in their mouths with two minutes to go, the Republic of Ireland international getting to the byline and firing at Westwood's near post only for his international teammate to palm the ball behind for a corner.

And the Sky Blues also had a chance to snatch a result deep into injury time, Isaac Osbourne's highly ambitious effort taking a deflection for a corner with just seconds to go.

Fox fired in a deep delivery near the back post which reached Simpson, but the striker could only manage a brushed header which whistled out for a goal kick.

4thegame
Reading threw away the chance to close the gap on the Championship frontrunners after a goalless draw with mid-table Coventry City.

Both teams failed to shine during a dismal first half which saw few clear-cut chances.

Coventry's first real chance fell to Clinton Morrison when he latched onto Jordan Henderson's pass just inside the box but the shot sailed wide of the right-hand post.

The Reading strikeforce of Shane Long and Dave Kitson were given little in the way of service and the strong presence of City skipper Scott Dann at the back ensured that any threat of an attack was quickly snuffed out.

Then came Dann's chance to inject some excitement into the game but he could only head Dan Fox's 23rd minute free-kick into the hands of Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann.

The best chance of the half fell to Leon Best in stoppage time.

He found himself one-on-one with Hahnemann after some clever footwork from Henderson, but the big American keeper made the most of his considerable frame to gather the ball from Best's feet.

The second half got off to a fiery start with five bookings in the first nine minutes as the referee threatened to lose control of the match.

Again there was little in the way of chances but Freddy Eastwood could have given the home side the lead on 65 minutes.

However, after latching onto Aron Gunnarsson's cross inside the box, he sent his right-footed volley high and wide of the target.

Former Sky Blues star Jay Tabb had Reading's best effort after unleashing a powerful 25-yard drive just wide of the top left-hand corner from the corner of the area.

Frenchman Guillaume Beuzelin should have scored for Coventry on 80 minutes after Morrison pulled the ball back to him on the penalty spot, but the midfielder dragged his effort horribly wide.

A late flurry of Reading pressure yielded nothing in the way of goals and both teams were forced to be satisfied with a point a piece.

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