Leeds United Football Club - Matchreport Leeds United vs Reading
Leeds United 3 Reading 1
Pre- Match
Kevin Blackwell made just the one change to the side which won against Burnley the previous week with striker Rob Hulse coming in for his Leeds United debut.
Brian Deane was the man who dropped out, finally able to rest his injured shoulder which he is able to play on with only thanks to some heavy strapping.
Despite revealing he now has the right personnel with which to play it, Blackwell has resisted the temptation to switch to a 4-4-2 formation from the 4-3-3 formation which has served him well in the last few months.
The Match
United won an early corner after Aaron Lennon's cross was cut out and from it Leeds missed their first chance of the game as Clarke Carlisle headed Jermaine Wright's cross over from six yards out.
With less than five minutes on the clock Reading squandered their own golden opportunity when Nicky Forster broke clear of the defence after receiving a throw in but he drilled his shot wide across the face of goal and hit the corner flag.
Shortly afterwards the visitors came close again with a drive from Steve Sidwell that just cleared the crossbar.
New signing Rob Hulse was making his presence known in and around the Reading penalty area, getting his head on the end of a few balls and forcing the odd corner and generally looked hungry for the ball and by no means lacking in match fitness.
The game only really got going after quarter of an hour, first Einarsson robbed Sidwell of the ball, played a great pass to Healy but the striker put his shot wide.
Then Lennon's run had the fans out of their seats but his shot lacked power and was straight at the keeper.
On 18 minutes Leeds thought they'd achieved the breakthrough when Kelly's cross was headed goalwards by Hulse but Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann made a great save in knocking the ball onto his crossbar and the ball bounced favorably for the Royals defence who frantically cleared it.
Leeds continued to maintain the pressure and Healy was unlucky when he went for a spectacular curling shot from a position 25-yards out, wide on the left, but the ball just went over the target. Kelly then saw an attempted cross come close to a goal but it just landed on the roof of the net with the keeper beaten.
Reading nearly gifted the Whites a goal after the half hour when centre-back Ivar Ingimarsson tried to head the ball out to his left-back but only manged to put it straight into Aaron Lennon's chest. The tricky winger was a little unfortunate as the ball rebounded off him and bounced close enough for the keeper to gather just before he got there.
It took a defensive mistake to finally break Reading down as Leeds took the lead on 35 minutes.
A huge mix-up between Sonko and Murty saw them hit the ball against each other and allowed David Healy to nip in and take the ball off them. The hard work was still to come though as Healy first held the pair off as they bit at his heels, then made sure the keeper went down before lifting his shot into an empty net.
Leeds now had to make sure they added to the goal and killed the game off which they failed to do in the previous games against Cardiff and Brighton where the visitors came back to force a late draw.
Just before half-time Rob Hulse was forced to go to the touchline with a bloody nose and also made to change his shirt. He rememerged with a plain Leeds shirt, without a name or number on the back of it.
On the stroke of half time James Harper was booked for a late tackle on Gregan that left the United man writhing in pain on the deck.
Unchanged after the break, Leeds could have doubled their lead when Lennon's cross fell for Hulse inside the penalty area but the striker sliced his shot wide after finding space for the shot.
Just as Leeds should have scored, Reading should have equalised five minutes into the half.
Neil Sullivan could only tip away a cross from the right and in doing so put it straight to Les Ferdinand at the back post but the veteran striker somehow hooked his shot over the bar.
He had only been at the club at a few days but on 56 minutes Rob Hulse scored what could be the goal of the season at Elland Road.
It was the quality of the build up play as well as the final strike from Hulse that sets his goal apart. A long ball forward was gathered by Hulse, Healy took possession, played a ball into the centre where Wright controlled it and then laid it off neatly for Hulse who smashed it home on the half-volley from the edge of the area.
Hulse was then booked after celebrating by taking his shirt off and swinging it over his head as he ran down in front of the Kop.
What a difference it was making to Leeds to have two spritely forwards on the pitch in Hulse and Healy.
And the fans didn't have long to wait for Hulse to make it 3-0 with his second of the game and another spectacular effort. Healy was involved again as he flicked the ball on for Hulse to break from the half-way line with no-one infront of him and as let rip with a right footed drive high into the back of the net from just a few yards short of the edge of the area.
Fortunately this time he didn't take his shirt off this time or else he would have been sent off with another yellow card!
Hulse was denied the opportunity to get a hat-trick when he was brought off after 70 minutes and replaced by Michael Ricketts. After not starting a game for West Brom this season, Hulse was bound to have felt the pace of the game a little and Blackwell was keen to keep him fresh, but what a start to his Leeds career.
Shortly afterwards another change was made with Lennon coming off and Frazer Richardson coming on.
Reading's best chance to get back in the game came when a cross into the box was met by Sidwell just yards out but Sullivan got in the way well and made the block, although the keeper gave a goalkick.
Gary Kelly had scored an unfortunate own goal at Elland Road in the game against Crewe and he nearly repeated the act when he headed Sidwell's cross at his own goal but SUllivan spared his blushes by snatching the ball away at the last second.
Two minutes before the end Reading did get a goal back after some good play on the floor inside the six yard box. Reading sub Dean Morgan passed it through the defence to another sub, Lloyd Owusu who simply backheeled it into the net and that was another valuable clean sheet gone.
The points though were firmly in the bag and if Leeds can produce a few more performances like this one, then who knows, perhaps the season may just be extended a little by the play-offs.
Leeds United 3 Reading 1
Pre- Match
Kevin Blackwell made just the one change to the side which won against Burnley the previous week with striker Rob Hulse coming in for his Leeds United debut.
Brian Deane was the man who dropped out, finally able to rest his injured shoulder which he is able to play on with only thanks to some heavy strapping.
Despite revealing he now has the right personnel with which to play it, Blackwell has resisted the temptation to switch to a 4-4-2 formation from the 4-3-3 formation which has served him well in the last few months.
The Match
United won an early corner after Aaron Lennon's cross was cut out and from it Leeds missed their first chance of the game as Clarke Carlisle headed Jermaine Wright's cross over from six yards out.
With less than five minutes on the clock Reading squandered their own golden opportunity when Nicky Forster broke clear of the defence after receiving a throw in but he drilled his shot wide across the face of goal and hit the corner flag.
Shortly afterwards the visitors came close again with a drive from Steve Sidwell that just cleared the crossbar.
New signing Rob Hulse was making his presence known in and around the Reading penalty area, getting his head on the end of a few balls and forcing the odd corner and generally looked hungry for the ball and by no means lacking in match fitness.
The game only really got going after quarter of an hour, first Einarsson robbed Sidwell of the ball, played a great pass to Healy but the striker put his shot wide.
Then Lennon's run had the fans out of their seats but his shot lacked power and was straight at the keeper.
On 18 minutes Leeds thought they'd achieved the breakthrough when Kelly's cross was headed goalwards by Hulse but Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann made a great save in knocking the ball onto his crossbar and the ball bounced favorably for the Royals defence who frantically cleared it.
Leeds continued to maintain the pressure and Healy was unlucky when he went for a spectacular curling shot from a position 25-yards out, wide on the left, but the ball just went over the target. Kelly then saw an attempted cross come close to a goal but it just landed on the roof of the net with the keeper beaten.
Reading nearly gifted the Whites a goal after the half hour when centre-back Ivar Ingimarsson tried to head the ball out to his left-back but only manged to put it straight into Aaron Lennon's chest. The tricky winger was a little unfortunate as the ball rebounded off him and bounced close enough for the keeper to gather just before he got there.
It took a defensive mistake to finally break Reading down as Leeds took the lead on 35 minutes.
A huge mix-up between Sonko and Murty saw them hit the ball against each other and allowed David Healy to nip in and take the ball off them. The hard work was still to come though as Healy first held the pair off as they bit at his heels, then made sure the keeper went down before lifting his shot into an empty net.
Leeds now had to make sure they added to the goal and killed the game off which they failed to do in the previous games against Cardiff and Brighton where the visitors came back to force a late draw.
Just before half-time Rob Hulse was forced to go to the touchline with a bloody nose and also made to change his shirt. He rememerged with a plain Leeds shirt, without a name or number on the back of it.
On the stroke of half time James Harper was booked for a late tackle on Gregan that left the United man writhing in pain on the deck.
Unchanged after the break, Leeds could have doubled their lead when Lennon's cross fell for Hulse inside the penalty area but the striker sliced his shot wide after finding space for the shot.
Just as Leeds should have scored, Reading should have equalised five minutes into the half.
Neil Sullivan could only tip away a cross from the right and in doing so put it straight to Les Ferdinand at the back post but the veteran striker somehow hooked his shot over the bar.
He had only been at the club at a few days but on 56 minutes Rob Hulse scored what could be the goal of the season at Elland Road.
It was the quality of the build up play as well as the final strike from Hulse that sets his goal apart. A long ball forward was gathered by Hulse, Healy took possession, played a ball into the centre where Wright controlled it and then laid it off neatly for Hulse who smashed it home on the half-volley from the edge of the area.
Hulse was then booked after celebrating by taking his shirt off and swinging it over his head as he ran down in front of the Kop.
What a difference it was making to Leeds to have two spritely forwards on the pitch in Hulse and Healy.
And the fans didn't have long to wait for Hulse to make it 3-0 with his second of the game and another spectacular effort. Healy was involved again as he flicked the ball on for Hulse to break from the half-way line with no-one infront of him and as let rip with a right footed drive high into the back of the net from just a few yards short of the edge of the area.
Fortunately this time he didn't take his shirt off this time or else he would have been sent off with another yellow card!
Hulse was denied the opportunity to get a hat-trick when he was brought off after 70 minutes and replaced by Michael Ricketts. After not starting a game for West Brom this season, Hulse was bound to have felt the pace of the game a little and Blackwell was keen to keep him fresh, but what a start to his Leeds career.
Shortly afterwards another change was made with Lennon coming off and Frazer Richardson coming on.
Reading's best chance to get back in the game came when a cross into the box was met by Sidwell just yards out but Sullivan got in the way well and made the block, although the keeper gave a goalkick.
Gary Kelly had scored an unfortunate own goal at Elland Road in the game against Crewe and he nearly repeated the act when he headed Sidwell's cross at his own goal but SUllivan spared his blushes by snatching the ball away at the last second.
Two minutes before the end Reading did get a goal back after some good play on the floor inside the six yard box. Reading sub Dean Morgan passed it through the defence to another sub, Lloyd Owusu who simply backheeled it into the net and that was another valuable clean sheet gone.
The points though were firmly in the bag and if Leeds can produce a few more performances like this one, then who knows, perhaps the season may just be extended a little by the play-offs.