Swansea City vs Reading. Sky Bet Championship.
Swansea.com Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Swansea City and Reading at the Liberty Stadium as Andre Ayew had several good chances but the Swans were held to a goalless draw on Wednesday night
Wednesday 30 December 2020 23:20, UK
Swansea will begin 2021 in third place in the Sky Bet Championship after being held to a goalless draw by Reading.
Steve Cooper's side had been second at the start of the day, but Brentford's win earlier in the evening bumped them down a place, and they trail the Bees by a point.
Reading will be happy with that point, especially after some excellent saves from Rafael - denying Andre Ayew on more than one occasion - kept them level. They remain sixth in the table.
It was Swansea who had the better of the game and the better of the chances in the first half. After 33 minutes Ayew had the chance to head home a great cross from Connor Roberts, but saw his effort saved well by Rafael. Four minutes later Marc Guehi should have scored as the ball fell perfectly to him six yards out following a corner, but he could only blaze over the bar.
There was a blow for Swansea early in the second half as defender Ryan Bennett was forced off with injury. His replacement Joel Latibeaudiere, however, nearly forced the opener just after coming on, as he rose highest on 55 minutes to meet a cross in the box, but saw his effort brilliantly saved by Rafael down low to his left.
And Rafael was at it again on 71 minutes, once again brilliantly reacting to deny Ayew's close-range header that seemed destined for the goal.
Reading had their own chance to win it late on as Tom McIntyre got free at the near post from a corner, but his headed effort was brilliantly tipped over by Freddie Woodman.
Swansea's Steve Cooper: "I'm not disappointed with the lads or the performance. I thought we played some really good stuff, some of our passing, movement and chances we created were a consequence of how we want to play the game.
"Their goalkeeper was brilliant, particularly the save in the second half from [Ayew's] diving header was top drawer, and he made a load of other really good saves. We're frustrated but I've got no complaints with the players, but if we continue to play that way we'll be alright."
Reading's Veljko Paunovic: "We can be happy with the few positives we had in this game. We're never happy when we don't win, but we had a good defensive performance from the whole team and our goalkeeper was exceptional - man of the match for me definitely.
"We were good on set-pieces and had good opportunities there. We were organised and showed our fighting spirit and the identity we always show. We were very brave and we were lucky, and we have to acknowledge they had very good opportunities. It was a very solid point, which helps us stay unbeaten and build good momentum towards our next game, which is very important for us."
Sky Sports' Lee Hendrie:
"He stood out a million miles for me. He'll be disappointed he didn't score and didn't put the icing on the cake, but his overall play was brilliant."
Both sides are next in action at 3pm on Saturday, January 2. Swansea host Watford at the Liberty Stadium, while Reading travel to the John Smith's Stadium to face Huddersfield.
