A routine save to deny Hendrick late on capped an efficient game.Īnother creditworthy display, reasonably solid and secure on the right, had a snapshot in the first half and blocked a drive near the line in the second. Formationĭidn't have much of a chance with Carroll's opener but was decisive in coming for several crosses in the first half. Reading had a late half chance when Femi Azeez latched on to a dropping ball outside the area but his volley flashed wide. The winger got off a shot from an angle but Lumley repelled it. The teenager left Amadou Mbengue in his wake and squared for Chong in the box. With Reading way upfield Jutkiewicz held the ball up and squared for Hall to burst out of his own half. They had to wait until 20 minutes into the second period to create another chance, a sweeping counter attack.
Keeping the ball well they fed Reda Khadra on the left wing and the German cut inside on his right foot and arrowed a flat cross straight at Jutkiewicz who beat his man and thundered home a header to make it 1-1. They had their equaliser four minutes later. They had their first shot on target when Krystian Bielik’s daisy-cutter flew through to Joe Lumley from 25 yards. That was the hosts’ only shot on target of the first half as Blues gradually worked themselves back into the game. The former Liverpool man had time and space to curl a shot into John Ruddy’s top corner. The striker showed good ingenuity when he back-heeled into Carroll’s path. Reading had not posed any threat when the ball was played into the box into Lucas Joao’s feet. John Eustace opted to keep faith with the team which defeated Blackburn last time out – and Blues settled into a decent early rhythm – disrupted by Carroll’s opening goal.
They had to come from behind to do it, falling behind to Andy Carroll's eight of the season after just six minutes, a sumptuous finish from the Reading battering ram.Īs has so often been the case it was Lukas Jutkiewicz who responded, a thunderous header on the half hour, his first for 11 games, to secure a 1-1 draw that keeps Blues in 16th, eight points clear of the increasingly irrelevant drop zone. Birmingham City added another point towards their progress to Championship safety, while deepening the anxiety surrounding Reading's as the Royals were booed off and dumped into the bottom three.įor once the end of season relegation worries belong to the opposition and while Blues weren't able to win for the fourth time in five games, they turned in another decent display to take another small step in the right direction.
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