Overall the loss was a shock to the Merseyside giants, but on the night Reading did look the better team & thoroughly deserved the win & now it’s left to Rafa to salvage what he can from the season...
IN other results, well done to Newcastle man Peter Lovenkrands for scoring a hatrick in their 3-0 dominating victory over Plymouth, Newcastle have had a harsh year-and-a-half and it’s good to see the club doing well on the pitch.
A narrow 1-0 win saw Birmingham beat Notts Forest in an encounter Forest dominated . The chances were there for the visitors but for lack of finishing & missed chances, a 60th minute Baarry Ferguson goal gave the win to the home team.
Bristol & Cardiff managed a replay after a 92nd min equaliser by the home team saw Welsh hearts broken by their local rivals – more on this after the tie has concluded.
The theme of late goals continued as struggling Portsmouth defeated Coventry. Leading 1-0 until the 90th min, a Stephen Wright OG in the 90th saw extra time & a relatively uneventful extra time was bought to a conclusion with a 120th minute goal by Pompey man Mokoena.
Late goals were definitely the order of the day as Derby dumped Millwall out of the competition, goals either side of extra time & a 5-3 victory on penalties gave the home team the tie in a scrappy, low selling game
Final tie of the night saw the other Sheffield (united) defeat home team QPR. Four goals in the 2nd half saw a 0-1 cushion for united change to a 3-2 increasingly nervy victory. An eventful period of 20mins in the 2nd half saw the goals flowing & had the visitors 2-3 up for the final few minutes.
Omar Malick