ROWETT: DRAW A CRIMINAL WASTE
Manager angry at late goal
GARY Rowett accused his Stoke players of poor game management after they drew at lowly Reading.
Stoke started well, but they fell behind three minutes before the break – when striker Marc McNulty nodded in his first goal for Reading.
Benik Afobe headed Stoke level three minutes after halftime and Tom Ince put them ahead in the 69th minute with a stunning volley.
But Reading rallied and were rewarded four minutes into stoppage-time when substitute Mo Barrow fired home.
“I’m disappointed,” said boss Rowett. “We created lots and lots of chances, probably more than we have in any other game.
“We should have been 3-0 up at half-time, I couldn’t believe that we were 1-0 down.
“At times, our game management is not as good as we’d like it to be. To concede goals late in each half was disappointing. We should have been going away with all three points. It’s almost criminal that we aren’t.”
Reading began brightly, with John Swift collecting a half-clearance only to send his subsequent effort high over the bar.
However, Stoke were quick to reply and should have gone ahead. Joe Allen cut the ball back from the right-hand byline. However Afobe, with the goal at his mercy, headed carelessly wide.
Afobe forced home goalkeeper Anssi Jaakkola into a smart save from close range soon after and, from the reAllen sulting rebound, Sam Clucas blazed over.
Reading responded positively, mainly through the forward thrusts of midfielder Swift.
A 20-yard shot from him deflected safely into the arms of Stoke keeper Jack Butland.
He then tried again from a similar distance but, this time, was wide of the target.
The hosts went in front three minutes before the break. Andy Rinomhota’s deflected cross from the right fell nicely for an unmarked McNulty to head in his first goal for the club, ghosting in at the far post.
Stoke regrouped during the interval and were back level within three minutes of the restart.
Clucas lifted a precise pass over the home defence and Afobe ran on to it to coolly slot past Jaakkola for his sixth goal of the season.
Stoke swarmed forward in droves thereafter, with leftback Erik Pieters forcing a fine save from Jaakkola from his 30-yard piledriver.
and Afobe also had chances to edge Stoke in front but Ince got it spot on in the 69th minute, with a spectacular volley from James McClean’s excellent cross.
Reading refused to give up and, after an intricate move on the edge of the Stoke area, Barrow pounced.
Reading manager Paul Clement was relieved to get a point. He said: “It’s a good point right at the end of the game. I thought it might have got away from us. I’m glad the players didn’t think that.”