LATEST NEWS ON 'The Royals'
November 2007
Click here for directory of archived news items.

24th November 2007 - Last Gasp Heartbreak

Stephen Ireland came to Manchester City's rescue for the second time in three games as his stoppage-time winner made it eight successive home victories for Sven-Goran Eriksson's side. Ireland also scored a crucial goal in the defeat of Sunderland and there was no disguising City's relief after the 2-1 success against Reading. James Harper looked to have secured a point for Reading after Martin Petrov had opened the scoring, but they have yet to win on the road.

Bobby Convey had two half-chances for the visitors, before City made the breakthrough through Petrov after 10 minutes. Vedran Corluka began the move and released Ireland, who found Elano in the area. The Brazilian's effort rattled the post and then Emile Mpenza's shot was blocked by goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, before Petrov found the net. The finish from Petrov for his fourth goal of the season was emphatic and just the boost City wanted.

Petrov then delivered a good cross into the area, but Elano was slightly off balance and failed to test the goalkeeper. City were growing in confidence following that early breakthrough and Elano was showing no signs of fatigue despite being on duty with Brazil in midweek. However, they were rocked back on their heels three minutes before half-time when Reading drew level in a swift counter attack. Convey clipped the ball inside and Harper found the corner with a sweet finish to the delight of the travelling fans.

City were then dealt another blow immediately afterwards when Croatia full back Corluka limped off. He was replaced by Sun Jihai. Eriksson decided to make a switch at half-time and brought on Georgios Samaras for Mpenza up front. However, he saw his side on the back foot in the 47th minute when Kevin Doyle found space down the right. He tried to pick out Dave Kitson in the centre but put too much weight on the pass and the chance was lost.

City hit back and Ireland tried his luck on goal from an acute angle in the 52nd minute, only for his effort to drift wide. However, it was Reading who were beginning to string their passes together at this stage and it was the home fans who were getting slightly frustrated. Elano was beginning to wilt and was replaced by Geovanni in the 58th minute. Dave Kitson then made space in the area, but he was unable to get the better of Richard Dunne, who blocked his path.

City were finding it hard to break Reading down and a snap shot from Geovanni in the 65th minute went narrowly over the top, City almost regained the lead in the 71st minute when Samaras latched on to a ball from Petrov, only for Hahnemann to block his effort.

Reading had not settled for a draw and Doyle picked out Kitson, but his finish was wasteful. There was a buzz of anticipation among the home fans when Geovanni shaped to take a free-kick in the 84th minute, but his effort came back off the wall. Geovanni then hooked the ball over the top from 10 yards before Ireland grabbed a dramatic winner in stoppage time, sending a superb volley beyond the goalkeeper after being sent up by Geovanni. It was cruel luck on Reading, who had only picked up one point on the road before the game, but City march on.

Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson believes Stephen Ireland has a long and lucrative career in front of him. For the second time in three games, the Republic of Ireland midfielder came up with a dramatic winner. Ireland, 21, stunned Reading in stoppage time with a superb volley to seal a 2-1 victory for City. It followed his strike in the defeat of Sunderland at the beginning of the month. Eriksson said: "It was a great goal from Stephen. Samaras played his part as did Geovanni. I did not expect it, especially as Geovanni had missed a great chance just a minute earlier. Stephen is playing better and better, which is fantastic. He was like a second striker near the end. Maybe that is his best position. Stephen is young, talented and has a long career in front of him."

City now move to within a point of Manchester United after stretching their 100% home record to eight games. Why they are so difficult to beat at Eastlands is no secret, according to Eriksson. He said: "We have a good team and that is important. Of course you need a little bit of luck but the players worked hard until the end and got their reward. The spirit is good. Reading made it difficult for us. We started the match well then lost our rhythm. I was not surprised when their goal came but we deserved to get the victory."

Eriksson revealed that Stephen Hunt apologised to Gelson Fernandes for a rash tackle that saw the Reading midfielder booked. The crowd were incensed but the City boss tried to play down the incident. Eriksson said: "It was not a nice tackle but to be fair to Hunt he came into the dressing room after the game. He told Gelson 'I'm sorry' and you have to say well done to him for doing that."

City took the lead through Martin Petrov in the 10th minute when Elano's effort came back off the post and the rebound from Emile Mpenza was blocked. Reading re-grouped and equalised through a sweet finish from James Harper three minutes from half-time. They looked to have secured a point until stoppage time when Geovanni sent a shot high over the bar from 10 yards before Ireland's winner. Manager Steve Coppell said: "I thought we did enough to get a draw. It was painful for us. The winner came from a big ball over the top but we were far more competitive than have been in a number of away games. We had a game plan as they have some good players going forward and we looked more connected in this game than others."

12th November 2007 - Different Planets

Arsenal again signalled their intent to battle Manchester United's `golden generation' all the way as Arsene Wenger's men went back to the top of the Premier League following a 3-1 victory at Reading.

The Gunners extended a club record unbeaten run to 27 successive games as the Royals were simply outclassed, with Mathieu Flamini and Emmanuel Adebayor finishing off superb moves either side of half-time before Alexander Hleb's fine late individual goal wrapped up a comprehensive victory before England full-back Nicky Shorey grabbed a late consolation goal. While Sir Alex Ferguson may believe his own crop of talent, spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo, have what it takes to be the best he has managed at Old Trafford, Wenger's emerging side once again proved they have the undoubted potential to deliver top honours - and signs are 2008 could turn out to be a vintage year.

As expected, the Gunners boss recalled his key men for the clash, having rested the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Hleb for the Champions League trip to Slavia Prague. Despite the fast-freezing conditions - not to mention unusual kick-off time in international week - it was a bright start by the visitors at a packed Madejski Stadium.

Arsenal - who still have a match in hand on their rivals - came within inches of taking the lead after three minutes. Fabregas won possession just inside the Reading half, and instantly split the home defence with a first-time through ball for Adebayor. The Togo frontman stayed ahead of Ibrahima Sonko and drew the keeper out of goal. However, despite rolling the ball coolly past Marcus Hahnemann from 16 yards, the African was unfortunate to see his shot come back of the base of the right-hand post.

After the early scare, Reading soon found their own rhythm. However, despite making some progress down both flanks, the final delivery into the Arsenal penalty area was poor. When the visitors went forwards, they often found nine men behind the ball at the other end. Slowly, Arsenal continued to build the pressure, with Reading not able to get any sort of counter-attack going. However, after 31 minutes, visiting keeper Manuel Almunia was finally called into action as he beat away a fierce drive from Brynjar Gunnarsson after the ball had dropped sweetly for the Reading man some 25 yards out.

After 37 minutes, Fabregas got a push in the back from Gunnarsson to earn a free-kick in a central position, just outside the penalty arc. The dead ball was rolled to Kolo Toure, but the Ivory Coast defender drilled his shot horribly wide. Arsenal then snatched the lead shortly before half-time. The ball was won in midfield by Tomas Rosicky - fit again following a groin problem - and quickly fed Adebayor down the right, who in turn found Hleb on the overlap. The Belarus winger pulled the ball back across the six-yard box, where Flamini was on hand to steer it into the net ahead of his marker Sonko.

Arsenal had to win by two goals to return to the top of the table following Manchester United's win over Blackburn on Sunday and they were again bright at the start of the second half. Eboue almost picked out Adebayor with a chipped cross following a quick break down the right. Flamini sent in a stinging low drive from 20 yards, which Hahnemann pushed behind even though it was probably going wide.

It was 2-0 soon enough. Another quick interchange of passes saw Adebayor speed away down the left in the 52nd minute. He fed Rosicky on the overlap before the ball was pushed into Fabregas just inside the box. The Spaniard in turn laid it back to Adebayor, who calmly placed the ball low into the far right corner to end his eight-match goal drought. The big Togo frontman was celebrating again as he prodded home Rosicky's centre following a blistering counter-attack - only to be denied what looked a perfectly-executed goal by a rather dubious offside flag.

The match opened up during the final 20 minutes, with plenty of space both in midfield and down the flanks. With 13 minutes left, Hleb latched onto a loose ball at the edge of the area. The Belarus winger skipped one challenge and showed quick feet to keep Hahnemann at bay - before stepping back to smash a close-range effort past the man on the line and into the back of the net.

Fabregas was booked - his fifth of the season which will see him serve a one-match ban - for a foul on substitute Emerse Fae. Shorey then hit the base of the post with a curling 20-yard free-kick. Reading did get their consolation with three minutes to go when the England full-back drilled the ball home following uncharacteristic moment of chaos in the Arsenal six-yard box.

Emmanuel Adebayor was keen to deflect attention away from his own goalscoring exploits and insists he is more concerned with claiming maximum points following the Gunners' 3-1 win over Reading. Mathieu Flamini put Arsene Wenger's side ahead in the first half before goals from Adebayor and Alexander Hleb put the game beyond Reading's reach. Not even a late consolation from Royals defender Nicky Shorey could take the gloss off yet another classy performance from the north Londoners.

Adebayor told Setanta Sports: "The most important thing is for team to win. I'm proud of my performance but the most important job is for the team and getting the three points."

Man-of-the-match Cesc Fabregas said: "They are a very good side. They try to play football. But when we play as a team it's very difficult for others, once again it was a great performance from us. If we keep going like this we have good chance (of winning the Premier League). The season is very long and we'll have to fight for our place at the top."

Arsene Wenger felt his side were in control for long periods against Steve Coppell's side. He said: "I felt we were in control, but we needed to be patient. They didn't come at us and they wanted to catch us on break - it was us going at them, we were always in control. I didn't want my team to get frustrated, we knew we needed to be patient, maybe the first goal coming before half-time was the killer for Reading." Wenger was also quick to lavish praise on his young side following another imperious display. He said: "It's enjoyable to watch and work with them. They are hungry, they have a fantastic spirit and attitude."

Royals boss Coppell admitted Arsenal's goal just before the break was the decisive moment of the game. He said: "The first goal before half-time was critical, they had a lot of possession but didn't create a great deal. There were signs they were getting frustrated. We talked about getting hurt on rebound from our corners and set-pieces and, lo and behold, they score from it. We found it hard to get back into game when their confidence started flowing."

6th November 2007 - Cherries The New Royals

It looks as if Bournemouth are determined to become Reading Reserves. Scott Golbourne has become the FOURTH Reading player to join the Cherries on loan, with James Henry, Alex Pearce and Jem Karacan already in situ at the South Coast club.

3rd November 2007 - Shit Away Form Continues

Clint Dempsey and David Healy came up with late goals to clinch only the second Premier League win of the season for Fulham, who triumphed 3-1, and leave Reading still searching for their first success away from home.

Steve Coppell's side looked like doing it when suffocating pressure at the start of the second half brought Kevin Doyle's equaliser after Simon Davies had shot the home side in front early on. But having thanked keeper Antti Niemi for a string of saves, Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez sent on substitute strikers Healy and the on-loan Shefki Kuqi to turn the tide - with American Dempsey profiting to end a six-match goal-drought. However, Sanchez will not have been happy to see his young full-back Elliot Omozusi sent off in stoppage time for the second of two rugged but hardly malicious tackles.

Fulham, with two novice full-backs in debut-making Nathan Ashton and Omozusi who made his league bow against Sunderland last week, would have welcomed a win of any description after just one previously against Bolton in the opening week of the campaign. Yet Sanchez's team started the match in 14th place, just one spot below their visitors - one of Sanchez's former clubs as a player - who did the double over them last term.

The opening exchanges were tediously scrappy. Both sides gave the ball away with regularity in a featureless first 10 minutes. Fans had been treated to the rare sight of a fox sprinting across the pitch and away by the corner flag towards the river. It was quite some time before they saw a run of such quality again. But Fulham, so pedestrian up to then, suddenly found their touch and went ahead through Davies on 17 minutes. Dempsey's fierce shot was tipped around a post by the diving Marcus Hahnemann and some home fans groaned as Diomansy Kamara and Bouazza engineered a short corner ploy. But eventually the cross was headed out by Reading striker Dave Kitson - only for Davies to size up the loose ball at the edge of the area before drilling it firm and true into the bottom corner. It was the Welsh international's second goal in a week and his third this season.

Fulham were massively encouraged by the breakthrough. Dempsey looked set to add a second goal until flagged offside from a Davies cross on 22 minutes. Hahnemann saved the shot in any case. Bouazza and Kamara showed some guile and Steve Davis kept things ticking in midfield, but gradually Reading began to take a grip in midfield after Ibrahima Sonko and Michael Duberry repelled the second rush of home attacks. However, despite Reading's possession for the rest of the half there was little end product. Kitson sent a fanciful overhead shot wide and Duberry and Leroy Lita both failed to direct headers on target from promising set-pieces.

How different after the break. Manager Steve Coppell's interval speech must have been a good one as Fulham's goal immediately came under siege. Lita and Kitson were both clearly offside when the former got the final touch to net Duberry's leaping header and Stephen Hunt was unlucky to see his chip shot beat Niemi but also the crossbar. Niemi earned his money with a fine save from Harper's smart free-kick after Omozusi was harshly booked for barging into Hunt, who then forced the keeper into another impressive stop. But Fulham's marking failed from the subsequent corner and Doyle was allowed the freedom of the far post to head in his fourth goal of the season from Nicky Shorey's flag-kick.

Just when Fulham threatened to fold, though, Sanchez sent on substitute strikers Kuqi and Healy to turn the match on its head again. After Dejan Stefanovic just about kept the ball in play to find Healy, the little Irishman - who had replaced £6million Kamara - put in a superb cross and although Kuqi's header was blocked, Dempsey was in the right place to scramble the ball in.

Healy finished it in the last minute, arriving on a breakaway to put away Davies' right-wing cross, but Omozusi's dismissal left a nasty taste, especially as he did not even appear to make contact with Harper for the second offence.

Steve Coppell saw his Reading side's awful away form continue with a 3-1 defeat at Fulham. And the Royals boss blamed himself for the David Healy goal that clinched the match after Clint Dempsey had put Fulham 2-1 up when Shefki Kuqi's header was blocked. He said: "Once we equalised early in the second half I was sure we would get something out of the game and I think we deserved to. I was confident at 1-1 but then Healy put in a great cross and Kuqi did well to get his head to it. Not many people beat Sonko in the air. After that I had to throw forwards on to get the game back but we don't do kitchen sink very well and we left ourselves open at the back for Healy's goal. It is a disappointing result because I thought we were the more adventurous side but I'm not overconcerned about away form if we keep doing it at home. Ideally you would like both things to happen but it is the Premier League after all."

Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez cheered only the second win of the season for his team and got his substitutions right when sending on on-loan Kuqi and Healy at 1-1. "Sometimes they go for you but you can also live or die by substitutions," said the former Northern Ireland manager. "Martin Jol was pilloried here when he took off Robbie Keane and we hit back for a draw. The introduction of Shefki was quite important. He won his first header and the crowd got behind him. It was a pity in a way he did't score our second goal but it was his leap that did it and Clint (Dempsey) picked up the pieces. Shefki livened us up and David's only a sub because he needs to play alongside a big front man. He's missed Brian McBride but we should have him back from his knee injury before long. I've got a lot of forwards here and it is hard squeezing them all into the same team. I'm pleased for David after he missed a similar chance last week. That's the first time he and Shefki have played together."

Sanchez admitted the most over-riding feeling was one of relief after Fulham's first league win since August 16. But the dismissal of young defender Elliot Omozusi in stoppage time for a second yellow card soured Fulham's win. It seemed the 18-year-old made no contact with his tackle right at the end but referee Mark Clattenburg reached for a yellow, a second booking after the youngster barged over Stephen Hunt for his first caution early in the second half.

But Sanchez, a scourge of referees often, spared Clattenburg after the Newcastle official's poor performance in the Merseyside derby two weeks ago. The Fulham boss said: "I just asked the ref at the end what the card was for but I haven't been able to see the incident myself yet. I was sad for the player because he had done well in only his second game and is now suspended for Liverpool next week."

2nd November 2007 - Full Team On Loan

Alex Pearce and James Henry have both joined Bournemouth on one month loan deals. Following John Halls loan to Preston earlier in the week, that takes the total number of Royals players now out on loan to a full team of 11. The full list is:

Graham Stack - to Wolves
Sam Sodje - to Charlton	Alex Pearce - to Bournemouth	Alan Bennett - to Southampton	Curtis Osano - to Rushden
John Halls - to Preston	Jem Karacan - to Bournemouth	Scott Davies - to Aldershot	Simon Cox - to Swindon
	James Henry - to Bournemouth	Simon Church - to Crewe