Joel Pereira: 5
Made an absolute mess of sprinting out of his area in the fourth minute to win the ball but completely mistimed it, with the ball high in the air when he was outside of the box, leaving him to have to attempt a header which he miscued, and nearly played in a Wigan Athletic attacker.
One of my frustrations with Pereira this season has been his slow distribution. However, in the 12th minute, he sent a quick, long kick out to Paddy Lane on the left which showed the danger this type of play can pose for the opposition.
The next opportunity to play a quick long ball led to him miskicking it and giving it straight to a Wigan midfielder in the 38th minute. His quick distribution today was the (only?) highlight of his performance.
Went on a mad one in the 53rd minute by skipping past an onrushing Wigan attacker and going into a midfield position – much akin to where Lewis Wing would usually let off a long ball out wide – and did exactly that to find Lane. I’m not mad about this.
Good block in the 62nd minute from a Wigan counter on the Reading right and did well to stay on his feet to be ready for a follow-up effort.
Parried an effort into the Reading box that he possibly (probably?) should have kept hold of in the 71st minute, which led to Wigan’s opening goal. However, he was most certainly not helped by the defence in front of him.
Udoka Godwin-Malife: 6
Dokes offered a lot in attack today and made a lot of runs from wide to get into the box and often dropped the shoulder, especially in the second half, to get past his man and move the ball further up the pitch through the middle.
Most of the Wigan attacks seem to go down Reading’s left, so he was rarely tested, but comfortable when he had to defend the danger.
Examples of this today where when Dokes made a good run down the right in the 23rd minute to set up a Kyreece Lisbie chance, but being unable to block a Wigan cross in the 24th minute that nearly led to a Wigan goal, and then a fantastic run down the right wing in the 45th minute that found Wing, eventually.
Possibly unfortunate to not have won a penalty in the 60th minute after cutting into the Wigan box and being knocked over by the Wigan defender.
Paudie O’Connor: 5
Not his best day at the office today, but not his worst either. Certainly could have been better in moments but also showed in other moments his quality.
He was on hand to cover for Pereira’s early brain fart in the fourth minute. He gave the freedom of the pitch by ball-watching and drifting over to help Dokes in the 24th minute, leaving a Wigan attacker in the box completely unmarked and we were very fortunate Wigan didn’t score.
O’Connor provided a good long ball to find Lane on the left in the 55th minute. This move led to a corner which Wing took, and he got a header away at the goal which was saved comfortably. O’Connor also provided a good ball out wide to Dokes in the 60th minute and good pass to Lisbie in the 73rd minute into the box.
Not at direct fault for the goal, but question marks about his organisation of the backline have to be raised.
Jeriel Dorsett: 5
Wait, what? What a pleasant surprise to see Dorsett make a return. He was quite rusty in the first half, as was to be expected, but was more settled in the second half, though he’s the most culpable for the Wigan goal today.
Dorsett gave away an early foul near the halfway line and, also, was possibly fortunate to not concede a penalty in the 15th minute for a nudge, owing to the fact the attacker didn’t have the ball under control.
In the second half, Dorsett a good header from a Wing free-kick in the 52nd minute. Lost the Wigan attacker in the 71st minute for their opening goal and should have been touch tight. Aside from this, he showed calmness on the goal when passing out from the back today which is to be commended.
Haydon Roberts: 6
I think he was our best defender today, but that’s essentially damning with faint praise. Today, Roberts definitively worked hard to make challenges, intercept and build up play from the back and linked up well with Lane. As ever, Roberts also provided a number of good balls into the box.
Roberts made a good early cross into the box in the third minute and made a particularly good interception in the 26th minute. Excellent cross after a good passing move with Lane in the 35th minute looking for Lisbie that won a corner, followed by another good cross in the 45th minute to set up a chance for Jamie Reid.
Less of a headline-grabbing second half, he remained involved in a lot of forward play – particularly underlapping to provide midfield support in the attacks. Subbed off for Randell Williams in the 81st minute.
Lewis Wing: 5
Reading were over-run in the midfield today and, while the main bearer of fault for this should be Leam Richardson, Wing didn’t do enough defensively either to justify his continued inclusion in the pivot.
There comes a time when playing him because you expect him to contribute goals becomes negligent when you consider that, before today, nine games have seen Wing take 21 shots and only three have been on target. Just dwell on that for a moment. Rant over.
Wing set Lisbie loose through the middle in the 21st minute, which nearly led to a goal, but, as mentioned earlier, defensively, Wing went missing in the first half of the first half when Wigan put Reading under a lot of pressure.
A really, really poor shot from 20 yards out that – as is now typical – went well over and did not do anything to improve his rating. Though for balance, Wing did well to sprint forward to intercept the ball from a Dokes cross and get it wide to Roberts in the 45th minute and delivered a fantastic cross in the last kick of the half which was unfortunate not to find a Reading head.
In the second half, Wing got a tricky shot away and on target with an awkwardly boxing effort he had to bend to reach in the 61st minute and did provide a good cross for Reid in the 65th minute. A poor effort from range that – you will not be surprised to hear – went well over the bar in the 77th minute.
His passing was better in the second half, but frankly, with the time and space he was given to make the long passes from Reading’s half, it is the very least you would expect.
Andy Rinomhota: 5
Phil Catchpole called Rinomhota our best player in the first half but I am not sure what he saw there – he was good in the last 10 minutes when pushing forward but wasn’t to be seen when Wigan enjoyed long spells of pressure. However, he often does have to do the work of two players and this may be a contributing factor.
My favourite moment of his in the first half came when Rinomhota delivered a phenomenal left-footed cross to the back post that almost led to a chance in the 41st minute.
Rinomhota had a relatively quiet second half, while picking up a yellow card. He was involved in a lot of passing moves as Reading were, for a period of time, the more dominant team. Rinomhota also did well to get an attempt away in the 73rd minute after the potential penalty call.
Subbed off for Charlie Savage in the 77th minute.
Kyreece Lisbie: 5
Came back to win an important challenge on the edge of our area in the 19th minute to start a counter-attack. Unfortunate not to score when set loose down the middle in the 21st minute, with a good block from the Wigan ‘keeper. Followed this up with a good shot from the inside right of the box which the Wigan ‘keeper blocked.
Felt that he should have had a penalty in the 73rd minute but picked himself up to continue to threaten under pressure from the Wigan defence.
Josh Stokes: 5
Of all the ratings today, this one is the most harsh. Stokes worked incredibly hard for the team today, but it was just one of those days when things didn’t quite fall for him.
On another day, he would have come away with a goal and/or assist for his efforts. However, in a midfield that was over-run, with no end product provided, a 5/10 is all he will get for today’s work.
Stokes was unable to get a shot away in the 15th minute with an awkwardly bouncing ball received from the left but, showing a side of his game we are beginning to see more of, Stokes did well to track back and win a low tackle in the Wigan half to set up a counter-attack in the 37th minute.
Spent a bit of time drifting wide, which allowed Lisbie to go more central, and provided a good cross from the right in the 42nd minute, which both Lane and Reid went for and failed to do anything with.
Battled well in the Wigan box in the 68th minute to try and attempt to get a shot away from a Reid tee-up but was completely crowded out. Unable to capitalise on Lane’s missed effort in the 84th minute and should have at least got something on target. Missed a header from a Lane cross in the 88th minute.
Paddy Lane: 5
I’m pretty mad about the missed sitter, so Lane’s only getting a 5/10 today when, if I am being honest with myself, his work rate and effort today were probably closer to a 6/10, though there was an alarming lack of end product.
Lane went on a couple of threatening early runs but was not able to get past the last man. As the first half progressed, Lane started to get more threatening crosses away and was involved in a good passing move with Roberts in the 35th minute.
In a tradition as old as time, Lane moved to left-back when Randell Williams came on in the 81st minute. As I mentioned earlier, Lane missed an absolute sitter just outside of the Wigan six-yard box in the 84th minute.
It really should have been 1-1 after that, even if it would have been undeserved for Reading. Ended the game still pushed up high, despite having moved to left, with a good cross to Stokes in the 88th minute and another cross into the box for Brown in the 94th minute.
Jamie Reid: 4
Just not able to affect the game in any way today. Reid was not able to react quickly enough to a rebound in the 22nd minute and his only notable bright moment in the first half was a good header on target in the 45th minute.
Reid was positioned for a Wing cross in the 65th minute but needed to do better than just head it tamely at the Wigan goalkeeper. I can’t recall him doing anything else in the second.
Subbed off for Jacob Brown in the 77th minute and, truthfully, this should have happened as early as half-time. Richardson waited far too long to make any changes and the changes he made were far too like-for-like in a system that wasn’t working against Wigan.
Subs
Jacob Brown: 4
Subbed on for Jamie Reid in the 77th minute. Miscued a Lane cross in the 94th minute and failed to connect with the ball. Added absolutely nothing to the game when coming on today.
Charlie Savage: 5
Subbed on for Andy Rinomhota in the 77th minute. Great link-up play with Williams on the left in the 84th minute that should have led to a goal, through no fault of Savage that it didn’t.
Probably should have been brought on earlier to fix the issues in the midfield today and, while Savage was not the problem today, he was not the solution either.
Randell Williams: N/A
Subbed on for Roberts in the 81st minute, moving Lane to left-back. Fantastic low cross into Lane in the 84th minute, linking well with Savage before that. Should have led to a goal.
Average: 5/10
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