FOOTBALL Live

Saturday March 1, 2008 Finished Riverside Stadium

Logo 0 - Reading 1

Middlesbrough

Reading

  • Harper 90’
  1. Harper ends Reading run

    Harper ends Reading run

    James Harper's injury time strike was enough for Reading to snatch a crucial 1-0 victory in a dire encounter at Middlesbrough. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Middlesbrough
    • Reading
    • 90+3 That's it! A crucial 3 points for Steve Coppell's side takes them up to 25 points in the Premier League table. A dire encounter ends with an unlikely goal - who'd have thought it? Gareth Southgate will be seething, while the Reading players look as though they've just won the FA Cup.
    • 90+1 GOAL! READING SCORE! Stephen Hunt squares to the middle of the area and JAMES HARPER fires home with a cool, low strike.
    • 85 Double Reading substitution: Doyle OFF, Cisse ON. Matejovsky OFF, Kebe ON. Last roll of the dice by Steve Coppell.
    • 80 Nicky Shorey fouls Adam Johnson and joins the Yellow Card Gang.
    • 78 Stuart Downing is the latest to make it into Howard Webb's little black book for diving in the box.
    • 74 Boro substitution. Boateng OFF, Johnson ON.
    • 73 Jonathan Grounds is shown the yellow for a foul on Dave Kiston.
    • 72 There really are no chances being created out there whatsoever. It's bleak.
    • 69 Reading substitution. Oster OFF, Dave Kitson ON.
    • 68 The ineffective Afonso Alves is off, and Mido is on.
    • 65 Stephen Hunt is booked for a clattering challenge on Luke Young. Howard Webb loves dishing 'em out.
    • 61 Howard Webb is acting like the terminator out there, pointing his arms angrily and frowning constantly.
    • 58 Boro substitution. Julio Arca OFF, Lee Cattermole ON.
    • 57 We're yet to see anything sharp from Afonso Alves, by the way - he's huffing and puffing but no house-blowing strike on goal just yet.
    • 55 Beautiful ball into the box by Liam Rosenior, but Doyle's header is poor and it flies over the bar.
    • 54 Gary O'Neil has gone down injured, but he's soon back up on his feet. By far the most exciting incident of the second half thus far.
    • 50 Boro are keeping hold of the ball and dominating possession and they've now won 5 corners to Reading's 0.
    • 48 The second half is starting in a similar fashion to the first; it's cagey and unadventurous.
    • 46 We're away. Boro kick off the second half.
    • 45 The half-time whistle blows. Boro have enjoyed the best moments of the half, but Reading will feel their goal was perfectly legal; as the teams walk off, Steve Coppell is having a word with Howard Webb.
    • 42 Free-kick to Boro just outside the area. Alves has a go, but it's a comfortable catch for Hahnemann, who dives down to his right.
    • 42 Another yellow card dished out by ref Howard Webb. Rosenior is in the book for a late tackle on Afonso Alves, who looked to have broken free into the area.
    • 41 Hahnemann makes a steady catch from Arca's dangerous floating ball into the area. It still seems Middlesbrough are the more likely to score.
    • 40 After the brief Reading blitz, we're back to normal with Middlesbrough - and Downing in particular - finding joy down the left flank. He's just not quite delivering the final ball into the area yet.
    • 37 Couple of bookings to catch up on: Boateng is shown the yellow for fouling John Oster, and Wheater is booked for a ludicrous, late challenge on Stephen Hunt.
    • 36 Reading have suddenly got the wind in their sails and they're blitzing the Middlesbrough area. They're not carving out any clear chances but at last they're having a go.
    • 34 DISALLOWED GOAL! It's a right old rumble inside the area and as the ball floats in, Doyle strikes on the volley and hits the back of the net from just a few yards out. But the ref claims Bikey pushed Schwarzer in the process, and the goal won't stand. Seems very harsh.
    • 31 OK, now Boro are ripping Reading to shreds down the left wing. That man Downing is steaming through and getting the crosses in - but this time it's easily cleared.
    • 30 Beautiful back-heel inside the Reading area by Tuncay but Young's attempt to dribble the ball into the net goes awry.
    • 29 Great clearing header from Rosenior! Downing's neat cross from inside the area is headed to safety by the right-back and just as well - there were a host of Borough players just waiting to pounce inside the 6-yard box.
    • 25 Hahnemann makes an easy save from Downing's crisp effort, fired in from around 25 yards out to the left of the penalty area. Not a bad try but we're yet to see a cracking save from either Schwarzer or Hahnemann.
    • 22 Arca has another pop at goal and it's deflected for a corner. The home side are certainly earning their fair share of corners but they're doing nothing useful with any of them.
    • 21 Brazilian stellar-signing Afonso Alves thinks he finds himself in a great scoring position inside the area but he's flagged for offside.
    • 20 Another Middlesbrough corner which comes to absolutely nothing.
    • 18 Stephen Hunt tries a volley from just inside the area but he needn't have bothered. The ball storms into the stand behind the goal. Or it may have ended up outside of the stadium, actually. Either way, Andre Bikey has gone in the ref's book for "unsporting behaviour".
    • 16 A third of the way into the first half and it's not really going anywhere. One chance for either side, neither of which tested the goalkeepers, and the old cliché about "needing a goal" applies here.
    • 13 Middlesbrough are starting to pass the ball about with a bit of style now. Just a bit, though. But they seem calmer and more composed than Steve Coppell's side.
    • 11 Reading look nervous in defence and Gareth Southgate is gesturing to his players to keep on driving forward. He sniffs a goal.
    • 9 Arca tries a speculative whack from just outside the area. It's deflected for a corner which Reading completely fail to clear, and an unmarked Pogatetz gets a good header on target. A Reading body was in the way to block the ball.
    • 8 Should have done better! Liam Rosenior whips in a deft cross from the right flank but Shane Long's header flies over the crossbar. It really should have been on target -that was a decent chance for the visitors.
    • 7 Good run into the box from Shane Long but the skinny lad is easily bundled off the ball by Grounds and the ball is out for a GK.
    • 4 It's a cautious start from both sides. A defeat for either could prove costly as we go into the last 10 games of the season...
    • 2 Middlesbrough completely waste a free-kick from half-way inside the Reading half. Downing floats it into a crowded penalty area but the ball bobbles out for a goal-kick.
    • 1 And we're off! Early attacking intent from Reading. They win an early throw in the Middlesbrough half.
    • -- The teams are out, they're shaking hands, and we're nearly set for a cracking 90 minutes of relegation-threatened action.
    • -- Desperate Reading have lost eight games on the trot and find themselves stuck in the relegation zone. Middlesbrough are only seven points above their opponents and played an exhausting 120 minutes of football in their midweek FA Cup replay against Sheffield United.
    • -- Teams are confirmed. Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Young, Wheater, Pogatetz, Grounds, O'Neil, Boateng, Arca, Downing, Alves, Sanli. Subs: Jones, Mido, Cattermole, Johnson, Hines Reading: Hahnemann, Rosenior, Ingimarsson, Bikey, Shorey, Oster, Harper, Matejovsky, Hunt, Doyle, Long. Subs: Federici, Cisse, Sonko, Kitson, Kebe.
    • -- Hello and welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text commentary of Middlesbrough - Reading at the Riverside Stadium. Kick-off is at 3pm.

  • Team Stats

    Middlesbrough Stats Reading
    55% Possession 44%
    13 Shots 8
    3 Shots on target 3
    1 Saves 0
    7 Corners 2
    17 Fouls 11
    2 Offsides 5
    4 Yellow cards 5
    0 Red cards 0
    20 Tackles 21
    256 Accurate passes 190
    42 Bad passes 67

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Middlesbrough
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Mark Schwarzer 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 8 0 0
      31 David Wheater 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 19 1 3
      40 Jonathon Grounds 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 23 11 2
      2 Luke Young 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 38 1 5
      6 Emanuel Pogatetz 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 18 2 2
      7 George Boateng 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 20 2 0
      3 Julio Arca 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 16 2 0
      4 Gary O'Neil 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 33 5 4
      19 Stewart Downing 0 6 2 1 1 0 0 17 6 0
      17 Tuncay Sanli 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 28 7 2
      12 Afonso Alves 0 2 1 2 1 2 0 8 0 1
      27 Lee Cattermole 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 4 1
      22 Bradley Jones 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      9 Ahmed Hossam Mido 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6 1 0
      38 Sebastian Hines 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Adam Johnson 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0
    • Reading
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Marcus Hahnemann 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 2 0
      16 Ivar Ingimarsson 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 15 3 3
      3 Nicky Shorey 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 30 22 3
      19 Liam Rosenior 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 12 0 0
      22 André Stéphane Bikey 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 10 2 2
      28 Marek Matejovsky 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 24 4 5
      15 James Harper 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 26 9 1
      11 John Oster 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 18 1 1
      10 Stephen Hunt 0 1 0 2 3 0 1 12 13 2
      9 Kevin Doyle 0 3 0 0 1 1 0 10 7 2
      24 Shane Long 0 1 0 6 1 2 0 15 4 1
      12 Dave Kitson 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 0
      5 Ibrahima Sonko 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      4 Khalifa Cissé 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1
      32 Adam Federici 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      30 Jimmy Kebe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+1 GOAL! READING SCORE! Stephen Hunt squares to the middle of the area and JAMES HARPER fires home with a cool, low strike.
    • 55 Beautiful ball into the box by Liam Rosenior, but Doyle's header is poor and it flies over the bar.
    • 42 Free-kick to Boro just outside the area. Alves has a go, but it's a comfortable catch for Hahnemann, who dives down to his right.
    • 34 DISALLOWED GOAL! It's a right old rumble inside the area and as the ball floats in, Doyle strikes on the volley and hits the back of the net from just a few yards out. But the ref claims Bikey pushed Schwarzer in the process, and the goal won't stand. Seems very harsh.
    • 30 Beautiful back-heel inside the Reading area by Tuncay but Young's attempt to dribble the ball into the net goes awry.
    • 29 Great clearing header from Rosenior! Downing's neat cross from inside the area is headed to safety by the right-back and just as well - there were a host of Borough players just waiting to pounce inside the 6-yard box.
    • 9 Arca tries a speculative whack from just outside the area. It's deflected for a corner which Reading completely fail to clear, and an unmarked Pogatetz gets a good header on target. A Reading body was in the way to block the ball.
    • 8 Should have done better! Liam Rosenior whips in a deft cross from the right flank but Shane Long's header flies over the crossbar. It really should have been on target -that was a decent chance for the visitors.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Howard Webb

  • Middlesbrough

    Manager: Gareth Southgate

    On the Field

    • Schwarzer
    • Young
    • Wheater Yellow Card
    • Grounds Yellow Card
    • Pogatetz
    • O'Neil
    • Boateng Yellow Card Substitution Out (74′)
    • Arca Substitution Out (58′)
    • Downing Yellow Card
    • Alves Substitution Out (68′)
    • Tuncay

    Subs

    • Mido Substitution In (68′)
    • Jones
    • Johnson Substitution In (74′)
    • Cattermole Substitution In (58′)
    • Hines

    Injured

    • Huth
    • Shawky
    • Taylor

    Suspended

    • Aliadière

  • Reading

    Manager: Steve Coppell

    On the Field

    • Hahnemann
    • Rosenior Yellow Card
    • Bikey Yellow Card
    • Ingimarsson
    • Shorey Yellow Card
    • Oster Substitution Out (69′)
    • Harper Goal
    • Matejovsky Substitution Out (85′)
    • Hunt Yellow Card
    • Long
    • Doyle Substitution Out (85′)

    Subs

    • Sonko
    • Kitson Substitution In (69′)
    • Kebe Substitution In (85′)
    • Federici
    • Cisse Substitution In (85′)

    Injured

    • Duberry
    • Gunnarsson
    • Little
    • Convey

    Suspended

    None