Football Live

Saturday March 22, 2008 Finished Madejski Stadium

Reading 2 - Logo 1

Reading

  • Bikey 31’, 78’

Birmingham City

  • Zarate 65’
  1. Bikey at the double for Royals

    Bikey at the double for Royals

    An unlikely double by Andre Bikey led Reading to a vital 2-1 win against fellow strugglers Birmingham at the Madejski Stadium More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Reading
    • Birmingham City
    • 90' IT'S FULL TIME! BIKEY WINS IT READING WITH AN UNLIKELY DOUBLE STRIKE!
    • 90' Ridgewell with a shooting chance in the Reading box - but Mike Riley pulls play back for a foul!
    • 90' We're into injury time. Reading on the cusp of a vital victory in their bid to stay up!
    • 87' Jerome collects a long ball forward wide on the left inside the Reading half, but he dallies with the ball before crossing tamely into the box - Reading boot it clear.
    • 85' Shane Long races clear of everyone inside the Birmingham box - but the angle becomes tight and he can only shoot straight at Maik Taylor! Great chance to finish it off then.
    • 82' Ridgewell was booked for the foul which led to Reading's second - that's the first booking of the match.
    • 81' And Reading make another change - Cisse on for Matejovsky.
    • 81' JEROME NUDGES THE BALL JUST WIDE AFTER RACING CLEAR INSIDE THE READING BOX!
    • 78' Both sides made changes before Bikey's second - Long on for Oster and Jerome on for Forssell. It came from a Shorey free kick about 35 yards from goal.
    • 78' GOAL FOR READING! IT'S BIKEY AGAIN WITH ANOTHER NEAR-POST HEADER!
    • 75' Actaully O'Connor did come on for Birmingham just before the equaliser - for McSheffrey.
    • 75' Zarate apparently cost Al Sadd £10 million when he joined from Vélez Sársfield at the start of the season, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised to see him scoring. He's an under-20 World Cup winner too.
    • 74' Oster shoots low from just inside the Birmingham box on the right - but it's easy for Taylor to collect.
    • 70' Hahnemann makes a vital save from a close-range Forssell effort! The American saved with his knees after the Birmingham striker shot from inside the six-yard box when a long ball fell to him in space.
    • 67' Ridgewell clears an Oster cross from the right.
    • 66' It was great work by Forssell to find room to cross inside the Reading box on the touchline.
    • 66' That's the Argentinian striker's first goal for the Blues since joining on loan from Qatari club Al Sadd in the January transfer window.
    • 65' GOAL TO BIRMINGHAM! ZARATE EQUALISES WITH A CLOSE-RANGE FINISH FROM A FORSSELL CROSS FROM THE LEFT BY-LINE!
    • 64' Marcus Hahnemann rushes out of his area to clear a Birmingham punt forward with his head. The American keeper was almost caught out then - did he have to rush out? Probably not.
    • 62' Birmingham clear their lines again.
    • 61' Reading appeal for a penalty after a John Oster cross from the right hit Nafti on the arm. Mike Riley waves play on though, and Reading settle for another corner.
    • 60' Reading win another corner after Muamba is forced into conceding.
    • 58' Hunt's cross is cleared.
    • 57' Jaidi with a last-ditch tackle on Doyle wide on the left. He concedes a corner.
    • 56' Reading win another free kick inside the Birmingham half. Hunt takes it quickly, picking out Kevin Doyle, but the striker heads well over.
    • 54' Will Reading come to rue that miss?
    • 53' John Oster misses a sitter from the edge of the six-yard box after being found completely unmarked by Doyle's cross from the left!
    • 51' Jaidi clears the corner away from his own goal as well. Good defending by the Tunisian.
    • 50' Shorey whips the resulting free kick into the Blues box, but Jaidi heads behind for a Reading corner.
    • 49' Nafti fouls Kitson challenging for a high ball 40 yards from the Birmingham goal.
    • 48' Doyle crosses dangerously into the Birmingham box after a quick Reading break, but Ridgewell gets back to clear.
    • 47' Kitson heads the delivery away.
    • 46' Birmingham get the second half going, and quickly win a corner.
    • 45' Mike Riley brings the half to an end. Reading go in at the break with a hard-earned 1-0 lead. Join us in 15 minutes for the second installment!
    • 44' Oster badly overhits the corner - but Rosenior pressures Muamba into conceding a throw on the other side of the pitch.
    • 43' Reading win a corner on the left after a counter-attack led by Hunt.
    • 41' Ridgewell finds himself in all sorts of space inside the Reading box from the second ball after the corner, but he wastes the opportunity as he crosses straight to Hahnemann.
    • 39' McSheffrey crosses with a free kick wide on the left inside Reading's half. The home side head clear for a Birmingham corner.
    • 35' Good build-up play by Oster and Rosenior on the right comes to nothing as Doyle mis-controls inside the box.
    • 33' Forssell with a decent chance from the resulting corner as the ball falls to him inside the six-yard box. The Finland striker can only fire wide though. Good response by Birmingham.
    • 32' Hahnemann tips over a mis-hit McSheffrey cross from the left which was dipping in!
    • 31' GOAL! BIKEY HEADS HOME OSTER'S FREE KICK FROM THE LEFT TO GIVE THE HOME SIDE A DESERVED LEAD!
    • 30' Hunt is kicked in the head by Muamba in the far left corner. Free kick for Reading in a dangerous area.
    • 27' Oster crosses into the Birmingham box from the right. Nicky Shorey is forward to get his head on it, but he can only direct it tamely into Taylor's hands.
    • 24' Matejovsky tries a long-range effort for Reading. It curls away from Maik Taylor but not far enough to evade the Birmingham gloveman. After his goal at Anfield last week though, why not shoot?
    • 22' Mike Riley has a word with someone on the Birmingham bench - not sure what that's all about.
    • 21' JAIDI WITH A FREE HEADER FROM THE CORNER - BUT HE POWERS IT JUST OVER HAHNEMANN'S CROSSBAR!
    • 20' Reading clear for another Birmingham corner.
    • 20' End-to-end stuff as Birmingham win a corner.
    • 17' STEPHEN HUNT HITS THE BAR WITH A 25-YARD SCREAMER! Great effort by the Reading midfielder after he made a pacey run forward from inside his own half - but the ball strikes the crossbar and flies over!
    • 16' Now Matejovsky crosses dangerously into the Birmingham box. It finds Hunt in space, but he scuffs his shot.
    • 14' It looked like Ridgewell might have fouled Kitson in the box before clearing off the line in that incident too.
    • 13' NOW READING COME DESPERATELY CLOSE! Ridgewell clears off the line as Doyle tries to force the ball in! Doyle should have scored with his first chance after an Oster cut back into the six-yard box gave him a great opening, but after fluffing his first shot he almost bundled the ball home.
    • 10' Kitson with a late, late tackle on Nafti. Mike Riley gives the foul but keeps his cards in his pocket despite some impressive rolling around on the floor by the Birmingham midfielder.
    • 9' Zarate shows some great skill to dribble free in midfield then find McSheffrey in space on the left wing - but the wide-man fires his cross straight into touch.
    • 6' SO CLOSE FOR BIRMINGHAM! McSheffrey with a great surge into the box but he shoots just wide of the right post!
    • 5' McSheffrey shoots with a free kick 35 yards from goal. He connects well, but it's straight at Hahnemann in the Reading goal.
    • 4' Rosenior is OK to carry on though.
    • 3' Rosenior has gone down injured after getting whacked in the head by Murphy's knee.
    • 3' Hunt delivers a dangerous cross right across the six-yard box, but it rolls straight through to Maik Taylor.
    • 2' Reading launch the first attack of the match, but the ball bobbles through to Taylor in the Brum goal.
    • 1' Reading get the game under way.
    • - The teams are out, but all eyes will be on the ref this afternoon: Mike Riley is in charge after his feeble run-in with Ashley Cole in mid-week.
    • - Bad news in the Birmingham line-up - James McFadden is left out through injury after having knee surgery this morning. Apparently he should only be out for two or three games, but given his massive contribution for the Blues since his January arrival, it's a big blow for them. Zarate starts up front in his place. Larsson is fit to return on the right of midfield though, and Nafti comes in for Johnson in centre mid. O'Connor returns from injury to take his place on the bench.
    • - Reading team news first - just one change from last week's defeat at Anfield, with stroppy striker Shane Long dropping to the bench. Dave Kitson comes in up front.
    • - Welcome to coverage of Reading v Birmingham from the Madejkski Stadium. It's a good old-fashioned relegation battle, with Brum just two points clear of the drop zone and Reading just a further point better off.

  • Team Stats

    Reading Stats Birmingham City
    46% Possession 53%
    15 Shots 13
    8 Shots on target 3
    1 Saves 4
    8 Corners 7
    14 Fouls 16
    2 Offsides 3
    0 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 0
    28 Tackles 16
    162 Accurate passes 219
    55 Bad passes 25

  • 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
    • Reading
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Marcus Hahnemann 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 2 0
      22 André Stéphane Bikey 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 8 1 3
      3 Nicky Shorey 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 21 14 4
      19 Liam Rosenior 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 20 0 5
      16 Ivar Ingimarsson 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 16 5 1
      15 James Harper 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 13 4 1
      28 Marek Matejovsky 0 3 2 3 0 0 0 19 4 6
      11 John Oster 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 16 2 0
      10 Stephen Hunt 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 5 7 2
      12 Dave Kitson 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 17 9 3
      9 Kevin Doyle 0 3 1 5 0 2 0 16 5 0
      24 Shane Long 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 2 2 1
      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 2
      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
    • Birmingham City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Maik Taylor 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 11 1 0
      24 Radhi Jaidi 0 2 0 2 2 1 0 12 1 1
      14 David Murphy 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 22 6 1
      2 Stephen Kelly 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0 4
      6 Liam Ridgewell 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 10 3 3
      12 Mehdi Nafti 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 33 7 3
      26 Fabrice Muamba 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 22 0 2
      7 Sebastian Larsson 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 31 1 2
      9 Mikael Forssell 0 4 0 3 1 1 1 17 1 0
      11 Gary McSheffrey 0 2 1 1 2 0 0 10 0 0
      19 Mauro Zárate 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 20 5 0
      8 Garry O'Connor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0
      13 Colin Doyle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      22 Damien Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      10 Cameron Jerome 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
      21 Stuart Parnaby 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 85' Shane Long races clear of everyone inside the Birmingham box - but the angle becomes tight and he can only shoot straight at Maik Taylor! Great chance to finish it off then.
    • 81' JEROME NUDGES THE BALL JUST WIDE AFTER RACING CLEAR INSIDE THE READING BOX!
    • 78' GOAL FOR READING! IT'S BIKEY AGAIN WITH ANOTHER NEAR-POST HEADER!
    • 74' Oster shoots low from just inside the Birmingham box on the right - but it's easy for Taylor to collect.
    • 70' Hahnemann makes a vital save from a close-range Forssell effort! The American saved with his knees after the Birmingham striker shot from inside the six-yard box when a long ball fell to him in space.
    • 65' GOAL TO BIRMINGHAM! ZARATE EQUALISES WITH A CLOSE-RANGE FINISH FROM A FORSSELL CROSS FROM THE LEFT BY-LINE!
    • 61' Reading appeal for a penalty after a John Oster cross from the right hit Nafti on the arm. Mike Riley waves play on though, and Reading settle for another corner.
    • 56' Reading win another free kick inside the Birmingham half. Hunt takes it quickly, picking out Kevin Doyle, but the striker heads well over.
    • 53' John Oster misses a sitter from the edge of the six-yard box after being found completely unmarked by Doyle's cross from the left!
    • 48' Doyle crosses dangerously into the Birmingham box after a quick Reading break, but Ridgewell gets back to clear.
    • 41' Ridgewell finds himself in all sorts of space inside the Reading box from the second ball after the corner, but he wastes the opportunity as he crosses straight to Hahnemann.
    • 33' Forssell with a decent chance from the resulting corner as the ball falls to him inside the six-yard box. The Finland striker can only fire wide though. Good response by Birmingham.
    • 32' Hahnemann tips over a mis-hit McSheffrey cross from the left which was dipping in!
    • 31' GOAL! BIKEY HEADS HOME OSTER'S FREE KICK FROM THE LEFT TO GIVE THE HOME SIDE A DESERVED LEAD!
    • 21' JAIDI WITH A FREE HEADER FROM THE CORNER - BUT HE POWERS IT JUST OVER HAHNEMANN'S CROSSBAR!
    • 17' STEPHEN HUNT HITS THE BAR WITH A 25-YARD SCREAMER! Great effort by the Reading midfielder after he made a pacey run forward from inside his own half - but the ball strikes the crossbar and flies over!
    • 16' Now Matejovsky crosses dangerously into the Birmingham box. It finds Hunt in space, but he scuffs his shot.
    • 13' NOW READING COME DESPERATELY CLOSE! Ridgewell clears off the line as Doyle tries to force the ball in! Doyle should have scored with his first chance after an Oster cut back into the six-yard box gave him a great opening, but after fluffing his first shot he almost bundled the ball home.
    • 10' Kitson with a late, late tackle on Nafti. Mike Riley gives the foul but keeps his cards in his pocket despite some impressive rolling around on the floor by the Birmingham midfielder.
    • 6' SO CLOSE FOR BIRMINGHAM! McSheffrey with a great surge into the box but he shoots just wide of the right post!
    • 5' McSheffrey shoots with a free kick 35 yards from goal. He connects well, but it's straight at Hahnemann in the Reading goal.
    • 3' Hunt delivers a dangerous cross right across the six-yard box, but it rolls straight through to Maik Taylor.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Mike Riley

  • Reading

    Manager: Steve Coppell

    Captain: Ivar Ingimarsson

    On the Field

    • Hahnemann
    • Rosenior
    • Ingimarsson
    • Bikey Goals×2
    • Shorey
    • Oster Substitution Out (77′)
    • Matejovsky Substitution Out (81′)
    • Harper
    • Hunt
    • Doyle
    • Kitson

    Subs

    • Sonko
    • Kebe
    • Long Substitution In (77′)
    • Federici
    • Cisse Substitution In (81′)

    Injured

    • Duberry
    • Gunnarsson
    • Convey
    • Murty

    Suspended

    None

  • Birmingham City

    Manager: Alex McLeish

    Captain: Liam Ridgewell

    On the Field

    • Taylor
    • Kelly
    • Ridgewell Yellow Card
    • Jaidi
    • Murphy
    • Larsson
    • Muamba
    • Nafti
    • McSheffrey Substitution Out (65′)
    • Forssell Substitution Out (79′)
    • Zarate Goal

    Subs

    • Johnson
    • Parnaby
    • Doyle
    • O'Connor Substitution In (65′)
    • Jerome Substitution In (79′)

    Injured

    • Queudrue
    • Kapo
    • McFadden

    Suspended

    None