Swansea City 0-0 Reading: Swans forced to settle for a share of the loot

Swansea City was forced to settle for a point as they failed to bring down the contenders for promotion to the Reading championship.

Reading goalkeeper Rafael Cabral made a succession of saves to keep Swansea at bay, and Andre Ayew came closer to finding a breakthrough.

Veljko Paunovic’s men were happy with the draw, which means they remain sixth in the table.

Swansea, who fell to third place after Brentford’s win over Bournemouth, will be frustrated at having missed a chance to close the gap with leading Norwich City just two points behind.

The Swans have the best defensive record in the EFL – this was their thirteenth clean sheet in 22 league games this season – but they couldn’t find the decisive goal their performance deserved.

Before kick-off, as is customary in matches across the country, both teams knelt in support of Black Lives Matter.

What was unfamiliar to him was the boos and horns that could be heard outside the stadium at the moment the gesture was made.

Once the football got underway, the hosts were the first to take the plunge.

Swansea had taken the unusual step of replacing their field mid-season, and Cooper admitted that something had to be done to maintain the integrity of the league.

The old surface, which was damaged by disease and a particularly wet October, cracked after the victory over Barnsley on December 19, leaving little time for his replacement to lie down.

But there were no signs of early trouble as Ayew had Swansea’s first effort, an acrobatic volley that flashed over the bar.

Ayew’s 25-yard drive flew straight into Cabral before a sweet move from Swansea and then saw Connor Roberts cross for the Ghana captain, whose header was nailed to safety.

The half chance came Jake Bidwell nodded with a Matt Grimes corner header to fellow defender Marc Guehi, who sent a wasted half volley over the bar at point blank range.

Reading was on the defensive for most of the first period, but threatened on a couple of set pieces, Tom McIntrye’s volley forcing a strong save from Freddie Woodman before the Swansea goalkeeper picked up the push from Sam Baldock. .

Swansea soon threatened again after the break, with backup Joel Latibeaudiere and Bidwell’s headers drawing further saves from Cabral.

Ayew looked ready to find a winner 19 minutes from time when he soared high to find a Roberts cross, but his header on the door was magnificently saved by the Brazilian goalkeeper from Reading.

It was Woodman who made the last stop of the night, pushing off McIntrye’s header to deny the visitors a landslide victory.

Swansea Head Coach Steve Cooper:

“I think you have to be frustrated because I thought we played very well and I thought we created a lot of opportunities.

“For the most part, I don’t think it was a bad shot, his goalkeeper had an excellent night, he made a lot of good saves, one in particular from Andre’s header in the second half was the best box.

“It’s frustrating, but I don’t think we can be disappointed. We played well, the effort was good. Reading have been a dangerous team so far this season.

“They have a lot of players who can make a big difference, and we’ve limited them to set pieces opportunities, they had nothing in open play.”

On the new field of Liberty Stadium:

“Fair play, credit to the club for making the switch on that. He looked better to start with. He played well and is now a field worth playing in the league.”

Reading Director Veljko Paunovic:

“Rafael was the man of the match and I am very happy. He showed that he is the pillar of our defense and he was very important for us to achieve this result.

“From the whole team, it was a great performance. On defense, we showed great spirit and identity, we never gave up and fought to the end.

“We are gradually recovering the identity that we had at the beginning of the season.

“We were brave and we were also lucky, but coupled with a great performance from Raphael, it’s a good result. Four points from two games is a good return from those games.”