Peterborough United 1-1 Reading: Smash And Grab

Rather unusually, Royals fans have only had to wait three days between matches, rather than a whole week or more. Another game on the road took them to an in-form Peterborough United, rejuvenated with four wins in a row and led by a rumoured candidate for the Reading manager position prior to Leam Richardson being appointed.

With both Reading and Peterborough on 28 points in the middle of the table (11th and 13th respectively), this was about as tough a game away from home that Reading could have expected.

However, with two wins from the previous two outings, Reading came into this in good form themselves and had the opportunity to avenge the loss to Peterborough at home at the start of the month – which feels like an age ago now. And, ironically, that was the game that kick-started Peterborough’s good run of form.

This run of good form saw Peterborough come into this game fourth in the form table of League One over the last six games. For Reading, they were in seventh. Let it not be forgotten that, on paper, this would be a test for Peterborough too.

There were a few enforced changes to the starting line-up for Reading, with both the Williams duo picking up injuries in the previous game. Finley Burns came in to partner Paudie O’Connor at centre-back and Mamadi Camara was found down the back of a sofa and came in on the wing.

There were otherwise no changes to the starting line-up that beat Plymouth Argyle on Friday. There was no Kelvin “Long Kelvin” Ehibhatiomhan on the bench tonight, for reasons we don’t know because, as ever, Richardson likes to play his cards close to his chest, but we did see Matt Ritchie return to the bench. Our defensive cover was a recall for Michael Stickland.

Reading (4-2-3-1): Pereira; Yiadom, Burns, O’Connor, Dorsett; Wing, Savage; Camara, Doyle, Kyerewaa; Marriott

Subs: Stevens, Abrefa, Stickland, Garcia, Fraser, Ritchie, O’Mahony

Two things became apparent as we started the game: firstly, this was a very slippery surface and the ball was moving quickly over it.

Over the course of the game, this seemed to suit Peterborough better. Reading struggled to slip balls through to Jack Marriott up top – often over-hitting them – and the aerial balls rarely reached their target. This meant that attacking outlets were sparse for Reading.

Secondly, with the defensive reshuffle, we saw Burns take up the right-sided centre-back role and O’Connor move over to the left. This could possibly be because O’Connor is more comfortable playing on the left of a centre-back pairing.

However, I choose to believe this was sensible man-management from Richardson. Pairing Burns with Yiadom on the right of Reading’s defence helped Burns to have a good game, and Dorsett being paired with O’Connor meant the experience was better spread out across the back line.

Before the football really got going, Savage collected an injury after colliding with advertising in the fifth minute, and while he was receiving treatment, Peterborough had a good attack where a cross came in and Yiadom failed to clear to ball well enough, leaving Burns to shield the ball from two attackers to eventually clear.

An early warning sign for Reading of what was to come, as shortly after, Yiadom was caught out by another run from the Peterborough winger, which led to nothing.

In Reading’s first meaningful attack, Kyerewaa won a free-kick by being a nuisance on the left for Savage to take in the 12th minute. However, it only led to a free-kick for Peterborough after Dorsett pushed a defending player in the box.

This prompted another Peterborough attack and more good defending from Burns in the 14th minute to shut down the attack to put it out for a corner, which Peterborough hit into the side netting.

On the 17th minute, the winger on the other side of the pitch for Peterborough caused our other full-back, Dorsett, problems.

He was too easily outmuscled off the ball on the left of the box, and with Doyle running back to support him, Reading conceded a foul which earned Doyle a yellow card. Dorsett should have done much better, but fortunately it didn’t lead to anything.

In the 26th minute a back pass to Peterborough’s goalkeeper, Alex Bass, caused him to react like a fish out of water by making a total mess of the outward kick, with a swing and a miss causing the ball to go out for a Reading corner. Wing took the corner short to Savage, who slipped a pass into the box for Marriott, who backheeled it across the six-yard box for Kyerewaa to tap in. 1-0 Reading.

This led to Peterborough waking up to Reading’s threat, having taken a somewhat unexpected lead, and the hosts upped their tempo.

Posh received an offside call in 34th minute, during this period of ascendancy following the Reading opener. Savage went off quickly shortly afterwards for a quick tidy-up after taking one in the kisser (to coin a ye olden times phrase) from the advertising board earlier on.

The attacks were unrelenting and, in the 38th minute, another Peterborough foray after Reading lost possession in midfield led to a dangerous cross and a free header.

However, Reading showed that they could still turn it on when required and produced a good counter-attack from a Peterborough set piece to set Kyerewaa free down the middle in the 43rd minute, but this led to nothing.

O’Connor then played a poor pass which led to him giving away a cheap foul outside the box on the Reading left. O’Connor seemingly wasn’t happy with Kyerewaa’s positioning for the pass, though O’Connor remained the culprit for the mistake.

Peterborough produced a incredibly dangerous delivery into the box saw some pinball, leading to a fantastic Pereira block, and Yiadom to clear the danger. I genuinely have no idea how Reading kept it out.

Four minutes of injury time were added on and another offside call for Peterborough occurred in the 47th minute, and Reading were very fortunate after the winger hugging the touchline on the right put in yet another dangerous ball which Pereira somehow managed to keep out again.

To close out the first half, in the 49th minute, there was a rare spell of great attacking play from Reading, started from a fantastic block, touch and pass from Dorsett in his own half.

This led to Wing setting loose Doyle through the centre, who played in Kyerewaa on the left. Kyerewaa’s pass was poor and was blocked by the Peterborough defence, but after some more smooth passing after incepting the ball back outside of the Peterborough box, Wing – being urged to shoot – dinked the ball over the top for Marriott, who was free in space, to stick the ball into the onion bag. However, he was flagged for offside and the half came to an end.

In summary of the opening 45, Reading looked composed for the most part, but definitely had moments when they had the jitters defensively.

This was most prominent when the Peterborough wingers, who were playing very wide, would run directly at them and our full-backs (Yiadom and Dorsett) struggled to deal with them. O’Connor didn’t offer much defensively, but Burns was solid to repel danger and Wing was often seen dropping back to support defensively. Pereira was indomitable in the goal as well. 

Kyerewaa had some great chances to run down the left, and while not much of the ball went down Reading’s right, Camara had moments when he looked dangerous when drifting in centrally.

Savage and Wing looked lively in the middle of the park and played some great passing movements to link defence to attack. However, the half-time whistle went just in the nick of time for Reading as Peterborough looked the most likely to score and certainly were a threat when breaking forward.

Half-time: 0-1

Reading aren’t famous for coming out strong to start the second half, and you had a feeling that Luke Williams in the Peterborough dugout was giving his side some strong words to take the game to Reading in the second half. However, the first half was a good start for Reading, and if they could continue to show the same resolve, they’d stand a chance.

The second half started with no changes made for either side and, in a tale as old as time, Peterborough started the second half strongly as Reading sat deep, and this led to yet another great save from Pereira in the 49th minute from a Peterborough header, from yet another cross from out wide.

This really felt like the kind of game where Reading would do well to move to a back three, to give an extra man in defence to support the danger out wide, given the struggles of Yiadom and Dorsett to contain the Peterborough wingers.

O’Connor picked up an unpleasant-looking head injury in the 55th minute after connecting with both the ball and the Peterborough player, which led to a stoppage after he went down and stayed down for a couple of minutes. Fortunately, he recovered to continue playing.

Reading continued to drop deeper and deeper, so much so that, by the 60th minute, even Marriott was beginning to play in midfield to help shore things up defensively.

While this helped frustrate Peterborough, it also left Reading with no way forward other than to hit the ball long and hope that Kyerewaa’s pace was enough to create an opening in Peterborough’s high back line, which was fine in principle, but you are relying on Kyerewaa to find a way past his man, and his unpredictability can be as frustrating for opposing teams as it is for us.

Time-wasting tactics were already in place from Reading, but despite this, they had a quick breakaway with Kyerewaa and Doyle linking up well to play in Marriott on the right, whose long-range effort on his left foot was held by the goalkeeper. That I can recall, this was Reading’s last shot on goal for some time.

Peterborough continued wave after wave of attack against a resolute Reading defence, who mostly held firm, and when Peterborough were able to find a way through, were able to get stuck in with some last-ditch defending.

Peterborough responded to this in the 69th minute by making some changes, with Reading doing the same. Off went Camara and Doyle, and on came Kelvin Abrefa and Liam Fraser.

Richardson used the overhaul of playing personnel to provide instruction to the players as they went to gather around him. Yiadom went over as left-wing-back and Abrefa slotted into Yiadom’s previous right-sided role, but as a wing-back.

It seemed Richardson was agreeing with what I wrote earlier (inspects laptop for concealed microchip and/or transmitter) and moved to a 3-5-2 formation. This gave us a back three of Burns, O’Connor and Dorsett, with Fraser slotting into the right of the midfield trio and Kyerewaa going more centrally to support Marriott up top

This change seemed logical in principle, and not long after in the 76th minute, Marriott and Yiadom went off, presumably due to tiring legs. Garcia came on at left-wing-back and O’Mahony was introduced as a striker, in direct swaps. Reading were preparing to batten down the hatches and dig in for a result.

O’Mahony made an immediate impression, by fouling a Peterborough player on the halfway line, which could have led to a booking – with Peterborough fans chanting “off, off, off”, but fortunately no action was taken by the ref, other than to award a free-kick.

And what was I saying about battening down the hatches? Reading switched off – for pretty much the only moment of the game they weren’t alert to Peterborough’s danger, frustratingly – and allowed the ball to be passed through the defence, with no one stepping in to challenge the ball or win it back, and Peterborough got a deserved equaliser. 1-1. 

This could be due to the confusion caused by the shape change or the new personnel getting warmed up to the game, and as if to further confirm this suspicion, shortly after, Pereira had to be very alert to come off the line to prevent a Peterborough attacker collecting a through ball.

Peterborough now smelt blood and they ramped up the pressure even more. Fraser seemed an easy target, given he conceded quite a few free-kicks, and the ball was often being passed through the middle of the midfield, with Reading struggling to impose themselves or get settled on the ball. It very much felt like Reading were just clearing the ball and Peterborough came at us again, rinse and repeat.

In the 85th minute, a surprising roll of the dice was made by Richardson and Savage came off for Ritchie. I understand Richardson likes experience, but it seems like you want to keep Savage’s energy and maybe someone like Wing ought to have been the player to come off.

However, on went Ritchie somewhere in the middle of the park, playing centrally. However, this could also have been a response due to Savage’s earlier accident.

In a rare moment of Reading remembering that there is more football pitch to play in after the halfway line in the 89th minute, we saw an amazing run from Garcia that led to a good cross in and a rare Reading attack, but unfortunately this led to nothing other than a sense of “what if?”, had Marriott still been on the pitch.

In the moment that the board went up for six minutes of added time, Peterborough were busy causing us problems. They won a header just outside of the box to flick the ball onto the forward, with Pereira producing yet another great stop.

The ball came out to a Peterborough attacker and Dorsett did brilliantly to throw his body on the line to block the shot and get it out for a corner.

An already tense game was at peak tension at this point as Reading were holding on for dear life, just trying to count down the clock. But they then did something unexpected in the 95th minute. They attacked.

Reading got the ball to Wing outside of the area, whose shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, but it bounced out. O’Mahony showed his inexperience by starting his run to win the ball too soon, and the ball bounced over him. Garcia then eventually got the ball and tried to win a penalty, but the referee waved play on.

In the 96th minute, more chaos in the Reading box followed a Peterborough free-kick. Pereira imposed himself on the Peterborough attackers and somehow – don’t ask me how – the ball went over. Pereira picked up a niggle in this but continued because all subs had been used and we were so close to the end of the game.

The final whistle finally went. And breathe!

Full-time: 1-1

Peterborough made sure we knew we were in a game all night and Reading were mostly very resilient to this continued and sustained threat. Credit where it is due to Yiadom and Dorsett, for after their shaky starts, they both really grew into the game and Dorsett in particular made a number of crucial blocks.

Burns was excellent in defence and showed that maybe we will survive for a few weeks without Dez Williams holding down the fort.

Garcia showed great promise when Reading were able to set him free down the left and I am sure many Reading fans watching will want to see him given more opportunities to play, particularly with Randell Williams out for the foreseeable.

However, the last word has to go to Pereira. Our last wall of defence really played like it was the 2024/25 season and laughed in the face of xG by keeping out a whole range of shots that should have led to goals, with impossible saves. He was absolutely imperious.

Reading, despite limping over the finish line, managed to go to one of the most in-form teams in the division and come away with a point. There was a lot of defensive resolve and some outstanding individual performances from the team, to see Reading climb to 10th in the table.

Questions will be asked about the swap to the back three – has Richardson properly prepared the team for this change? Was enough research done on the threat of the Peterborough wingers ahead of the game?

The reason I pose this is because those minutes after the substitutions and formation change saw Reading unsettled for the only period in the game and ultimately led to the goal being conceded.

Ultimately, it’s a result we will take and we close out the year showing some promise for growth in 2026, as we would all be hoping for, and the ability to fight for our lives when needed, find ways to attack when required and that this playing squad are absolutely committed to the cause. Bring on 2026!