Evans strike keeps Reading’s home record intact
Caretaker manager Chris Powell has won four points from two games since stepping in to the void left by Nigel Pearson’s sudden departure from Derby County on Tuesday, giving chairman Mel Morris much to ponder.
Matej Vydra’s goal just after the hour mark looked to have settled a drab affair and given Derby victory, but Reading preserved their unbeaten record at home this season thanks to George Evans’s 90th-minute goal.
“It has been a difficult week,” said Powell. “If we put all things into consideration, four points from two away games is a very good week for us in light of all that’s gone on.” With Steve Bruce and former Rams’ boss Steve McLaren among the contenders to succeed Pearson, Powell admitted that he has been given no indication as to his own future.
He said: “My future was take the game on Tuesday, prepare for today and that was it. I’m sure the club will decide what to do in the next few weeks. My role hasn’t changed but, of course, in light of this week, I’ve had to lead from the front. I’m sure everyone connected with the club would have been proud of the response of the players this week.”
Morris amassed much of his considerable fortune from the success of the highly addictive mobile phone puzzle Candy Crush, a game which relies on logic, spatial awareness and simple organisation. Sadly, the Derby chairman has not been able to apply the same winning formula to his beloved Rams. In a week of high-profile departures, Pearson’s suspension from the club did not rate many column inches. But Morris, a lifelong Derby fan, had a furious row with the former Leicester manager at the training ground on Monday, before ordering him to leave the team hotel in Cardiff ahead of Tuesday’s win. Powell remains as caretaker manager for the time being. So turgid a spectacle was much of this game, he must have been tempted to glance at his own mobile phone in the hope of some entertainment. For all the patient passing, the first hour of the match did not contain any goalmouth action to get excited about. Yann Kermorgant came closest for Reading, curling a low shot just beyond the far post in the fourth minute. For Derby, Tom Ince, their brightest spark on the day, looked lively on the right and drifted off the flank to fire a low shot at goal 10 minutes before halftime. But then Derby snatched the advantage as the torrential rain began to fall in Berkshire. Cyrus Christie whipped a free-kick into the near post and Vydra, who spent last season on loan at the Madejski, glanced it beyond Ali Al Habsi.
Finally Jaap Stam’s side responded. John Swift struck a fierce free-kick that Scott Carson did well to parry away, but is was Vydra who came closest to the game’s second goal, heading Ikechi Anya’s header at Al Habsi when he should really have scored.
They paid the price in the last minute of normal time, when Evans eventually fired home following a scramble after Roy Beerens’ corner, to leave Derby two points above the bottom three. “Eventually we scored that equaliser which I think we deserved,” said Stam. “We’ve shown that before, that we can fight back. We’re making progress, I’m sure of that. It’s not easy to build a team in three months.”