Really poor officiating. Without which we would have been in big trouble. Periera could have been sent off after 60 seconds. Then the stone-wall penalty not given.
We did not get entirely stuck playing deep in the second half. We actually did get men forward at times in the last fifteen, and the goal was well taken.
Doyle's work rate was amazing, again, and his goal was straight out of the top drawer. Wing was much more himself. Both Williams were very good too.
The stats do not look good for us (pass completion in the final third was laughable) BUT we somehow scrapped our way to a narrow win.
Three points are three points. We weren't that bad, Burton were pretty OK, just a bit short on quality, but tonight our Man of the Match has to be the referee.

Wasn’t a great match, definitely had some luck. Thought JPs was v lucky first one, Yiadom got the ball for the pen though? Got his body in front and came out with the ball - no pen for me
Difference is our strikers are decent. And it’s odd because they are the ones who always seem to get the abuse. Kelv is crap, Keane is pointless etc - yet they score goals and work hard. Our defence can’t keep a clean sheet and our midfield can’t keep the ball but blame the strikers…
Fwiw I thought we looked decent when Kelv and Young came on - and actually I thought the best we looked all season was when Kelvin and DK were almost playing 2 up. I’d like to see more of that
Defence still a bit of a shambles, Burns did well at LB. JP still not right but good saves.
A decent win anyway and an average performance

On the one hand the football we are playing is absolutely dire and there is no way we even deserved a point tonight. On the other hand you have to give credit to the players for keeping on getting results.
How we are 6th is beyond me. I guess most of our competitors are just as awful.

We get a few lucky decisions and everyone is up in arms, get over yourselves ffs, it`ll still be 2-1 in the morning, we get bad decisions against us too.

Me looking at the table tonight :shock:

We’re just very clinical. Great goal that from Kelvin last night and quality from Doyle. It’s not a mystery really. And JP is a very good shot stopper
Happy overall - got some squad rotations in, Patton and Keane didn’t do too much but minutes under their belt, another decisive goal for KE, Young looked dangerous. Another 2 goals scored
Not perfect by any means but it’s just about getting points at this moment and that’s what we’re doing

So anyone worked out wtf JP was doing after 30 seconds? Another night and Reading could have been playing the game with 10 and a rookie youngster in goal.

JP made some big saves last night, whereas the Burton keeper gifted us a win. I don't think his moment was a red, there were covering defenders.
He's definitely got more erratic this season and I expect we'll look for proper competition in the summer so he's not a guaranteed starter. But he's still an excellent shot stopper and made a big difference last night.

It's not that they are any better or worse than us, it's just that we have found a really good knack of picking up wins/draws even when the performance is not much cop by focusing on the high percentage moments. Other teams have perhaps not been quite as good at doing that as us. The only thing that may cost us the play-offs now is that start where we only picked up 5 pts in the first 7 games - even 1 more win in that run and we'd be looking pretty comfortable right now.

It's not that they are any better or worse than us, it's just that we have found a really good knack of picking up wins/draws even when the performance is not much cop by focusing on the high percentage moments. Other teams have perhaps not been quite as good at doing that as us. The only thing that may cost us the play-offs now is that start where we only picked up 5 pts in the first 7 games - even 1 more win in that run and we'd be looking pretty comfortable right now.

I’ll accept we got a couple of big decisions go our way, but If they can’t score a 1 on 1, and finish off other half decent chances then that’s not luck.
I didn’t think we were awful tbh - some periods we were pretty bad but others pretty good. It wasn’t Mansfield part 2
Stats wise it was reasonably even, not like we didn’t have other shots and opportunities ourselves
Even without playing well we have the quality to win games in goal and in the front 4. Sometimes that’s all you need

There`s no doubting the ball hit JPs arm, but he was on the ground and the ball hit the back of his arm, accidental. the pen decision could have gone either way, Yids got the ball a milisecond after the tackle.

It's not that they are any better or worse than us, it's just that we have found a really good knack of picking up wins/draws even when the performance is not much cop by focusing on the high percentage moments. Other teams have perhaps not been quite as good at doing that as us. The only thing that may cost us the play-offs now is that start where we only picked up 5 pts in the first 7 games - even 1 more win in that run and we'd be looking pretty comfortable right now.

I’ll accept we got a couple of big decisions go our way, but If they can’t score a 1 on 1, and finish off other half decent chances then that’s not luck.
I didn’t think we were awful tbh - some periods we were pretty bad but others pretty good. It wasn’t Mansfield part 2
Stats wise it was reasonably even, not like we didn’t have other shots and opportunities ourselves
Even without playing well we have the quality to win games in goal and in the front 4. Sometimes that’s all you need

Yeah, I wasn't really referring to last night more a general season vibe but yes, if you have a strong (for the level) front 4, you will likely end up nearer the top than the bottom.

Yep, freekick possibly but never a red. Interestingly, I saw a post on Twitter from a Burton fan showing the incident and he merely stated that they should've had a free-kick in the first thirty seconds, no call for a card at all.

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Yep, freekick possibly but never a red. Interestingly, I saw a post on Twitter from a Burton fan showing the incident and he merely stated that they should've had a free-kick in the first thirty seconds, no call for a card at all.

I saw it as well and a lot was made of how JP handled the ball out the area but it was clearly accidental, you could argue he fouled the Burton player but I think we had players covering, not very clear from the video though.

Yes, general view now is that the handball was not intentional, JP was looking the other way and his arms were in a natural position having fallen, plus there were covering defenders. They certainly should have had a free kick, though.
OTOH they reckon they should have had a surefire penalty ( Yiadom foul?).

Just typed out a detailed take on both handball and penalty and it’s vanished into a void, so a shorter summary.
Great officiating in both cases.
Never a handball offence, neither deliberate play of the ball with hand, nor any making himself bigger to gain advangate. Two officials with clear as day views.
Penalty, wouldn’t blame the ref for giving it. It's very physical, highly risky and hard to see well from behind, but Yids does get his body infront and wrap his foot around the ball to take it. No pen.

That`s the way I saw both of them too.

That`s the way I saw both of them too.
With the greatest of respect, I could hardly disagree more.
Joel knows exactly what he's doing with his trailing arm. Should have been a yellow though, not a red, as there was a covering defender. Could have given a red though without too much of a stretch of the imagination.
Yids doesn't not in any way get the ball until he has clattered the Burton defender. Clear penalty.
Over the course of the season I'm sure Burton will have had a few favourable decisions, and we've certainly had a few go against us. But last night we got lucky.

That`s the way I saw both of them too.
With the greatest of respect, I could hardly disagree more.
Joel knows exactly what he's doing with his trailing arm. Should have been a yellow though, not a red, as there was a covering defender. Could have given a red though without too much of a stretch of the imagination.
Yids doesn't not in any way get the ball until he has clattered the Burton defender. Clear penalty.
Over the course of the season I'm sure Burton will have had a few favourable decisions, and we've certainly had a few go against us. But last night we got lucky.
I think these things are often open to some interpretation and discussion. But when it comesto any decision the trained and highly experienced officials have a good view of and have made a concrete and emphatic decision on rather than potentially been unsighted or just straight up missed, you're on a hiding to nothing.
We all give refs huge stick, but they're far better at knowing the laws, interpreting the laws and making the calls than any of us.

Also you can tell by Pereira's reaction its not deliberate. He practically shits himself and does everything he can to avoid the ball with his arm as he's getting up.

With the greatest of respect, I could hardly disagree more.
Joel knows exactly what he's doing with his trailing arm. Should have been a yellow though, not a red, as there was a covering defender. Could have given a red though without too much of a stretch of the imagination.
Yids doesn't not in any way get the ball until he has clattered the Burton defender. Clear penalty.
Over the course of the season I'm sure Burton will have had a few favourable decisions, and we've certainly had a few go against us. But last night we got lucky.
I think these things are often open to some interpretation and discussion. But when it comesto any decision the trained and highly experienced officials have a good view of and have made a concrete and emphatic decision on rather than potentially been unsighted or just straight up missed, you're on a hiding to nothing.
We all give refs huge stick, but they're far better at knowing the laws, interpreting the laws and making the calls than any of us.
Except those on VAR of course :wink: