Seagulls at best to go top
BRIGHTON boss Chris Hughton watched his side take full advantage of Newcastle’s draw as they dismantled Reading at the Amex to go top of the Championship.
Sam Baldock opened the scoring, man-of-the-match Jamie Murphy doubled the Seagulls’ lead in the second half with an exquisite chip, and Anthony Knockaert finished the visitors off.
Hughton was left thrilled with the performance of his team, saying: “That was us at our best.
“We were up against one of the best teams in this division who do what they do very well. We knew that if we scored first they would have to come out a bit more to create chances and that’s how it panned out which enabled us to get the second and third goals.
“We know that our level will have to be high on Tuesday to beat Newcastle and if we can put in a performance like that again then we will give ourselves a chance.
“Even though we are top now it doesn’t give us a psychological edge. But the confidence levels are good going into Tuesday and it’s always very satisfying when you win this kind of game.”
Reading couldn’t cope with the pace of the home side’s counter attacks and almost fell behind in the 29th minute.
A misplaced pass was jumped on by the excellent Murphy, enabling him to surge forwards before playing in Baldock, who cut inside and watched on as his shot curled off the post.
Baldock only had to wait six minutes for another chance and he took full advantage as he controlled Bruno’s ball over the top before smashing his effort into the roof of the net, taking his tally to 10 for the season.
Knockaert could have doubled Brighton’s lead shortly before half-time but Reading goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi reacted quickly to the shot, parrying it out for a corner.
The Royals almost equalised 10 minutes after the break when Danny Williams had his header cleared off the line by Shane Duffy.
Murphy then got the goal his performance deserved a minute later after a quick counterattack from the Royals’ corner saw Dale Stephens pick out the midfielder who chipped the ball over a stranded Al-Habsi.
Glenn Murray thought he had added the home side’s third midway into the second half when he smashed his volley into the net only to be cancelled out by the linesman’s flag.
However, 10 minutes from the final whistle, Murphy jumped on Liam Kelly’s misplaced pass, starting another counter-attack before his through ball found Knockaert who curled it into the bottom corner, sending his side top of the Championship.
Reading manager Jaap Stam says it was the counter-attacks which cost his team. “Losing the ball in key areas meant that we were out of shape defensively,” he said.
“The second goal they scored was from our set-piece and normally you make a foul in the middle of the pitch to stop it and regain our shape but we didn’t do that.
“It was the same for the third goal as well; we lost the ball around the edge of their box and not because we were being aggressively pressed either.
“Against teams with the quality that they have we can’t afford to concede goals like this but going forward we didn’t do enough either as they left spaces open for us.”