The sort of game where you go through every emotion. At 80 mins I really thought we were going to hang onto the one-nil. But you always felt that if Norwich upped a gear they could run in a couple of goals in short time as they have done so many times this season, and so it proved. I twitched when they went two-one up and momentarily considered leaving as the Norwich fans waved their scarves singing their promotion songs then....mic drop moment.

With seconds left Rinomhota was teed up on the edge of the area and, left foot, hit what from our position perched in the far end side looked to be a speculative shot heading for the corner flag. Then it sort of nestled in the top corner of the net. You could have heard a pin drop apart from the tiny section of Reading's 500 or so supporters who as you can imagine, lost their shit.

This was a heroic defensive performance in truth for most of the game although we did look dangerous on the break at times utilising Meite's strength and Barrow's pace, best illustrated by the first goal as most of you probably saw on TV. Norwich will point to the missing Buendia as a decisive factor and they certainly did miss his inspiration.

We played five at the back and it worked, Gomes called that one correctly.

All things considered it would have been rough on the Royals to have lost that one having defended so well for most of the game. For once the Gods smiled on us.

Ratings:

Maartinez - 8. Three or four belting saves, particularly one from Rhodes I think where he got down to a goalbound header and got a crucial fingertip to a shot from Trybull which thudded against the post.

Gunter - 7. A tactical masterstroke of course to start Gunter by Gomes. Whatever you say about him he's an experienced player and wasn't phased by this game. Bit rusty not surprisingly but got forward well in the first half. Well done.

Yiadom - 7. Unfamiliar position for him and we missed his surging runs forward but was very much part of the aforementioned heroic defensive effort.

Moore- 9. POTM. If Reading were to get anything from this game then Moore just had to be Captain Fantastic - he delivered and then some. Crucial blocks, tackles, brave, and organised the defence superbly. He went down on his injured shoulder near the end and it looked bad and was pushed up front for the last ten minutes or so to keep him out of harms way. Quite brilliant performance.

Miazga - 8. A rock alongside Moore and looked shattered towards the end, so great had been his effort.

Blackett - 8.5. Great from him. He was up against Hernandez, a tricky winger who has been on fire recently. The fact that Hernandez was kept quite for much of the game was testament to Blackett's performance. Blocked loads of crosses and was a good attacking outlet particularly towards the end when he took hold of the left side.

Baker - 8. Kept up his good run of performances, very tidy. Like him.

Ejaria - 6.5. Tried hard but probably not his sort of game really. Lost the ball in possession a few times. Seems a bit churlish to say really but it was so.

Rinomhota - 7.5. Probably not quite fully fit yet not surprisingly but worked really hard. That goal at the end, wow.

Meite - 8.5. Strong as a bull and great touch for the first goal. Ever willing runner.

Barrow - 7. Thought we could have used him more as an out ball, particularly in the second half. His pace frightened the Norwich defence and great ball for the first goal.

Martinez was nowhere near the one that hit the post.

He was on the replay from behind the posts. If it was on target his hand was where the ball would have been.

He was on the replay from behind the posts. If it was on target his hand was where the ball would have been.

I assumed he must have touched it because the ref gave a corner did he not?

7 shots on target but ok.

He was on the replay from behind the posts. If it was on target his hand was where the ball would have been.

I assumed he must have touched it because the ref gave a corner did he not?
At the time, thought the shot came off a defender? Anyway, good write up Norfolk, and well said. Agree, esp re. Gunter.

Played well for the most of it. Disappointed with the lack of pressing towards the end which was always going to haunt us and thought the lack of subs was a real poor call. But the starting 11 worked well and the shape for the most was good, with the two up top causing huge problems

Martinez 8 - some really good saves, one off Rhodes at the end kept us in the game

Gunter 8 - didn't do much wrong at all, he could have got closer to his marker a couple of times but played really well
Yiadom 8 - slotted into centre back well
Moore 9 - absolute colossus at the back, that was the old Liam Moore we all know and love MOTM
Miazga 7 - few sloppy passes out and a few dodgy pieces of marking but was good on the whole
Blackett 8.5 - played really well apart from a 15 minute spell in the first half. Blocked cross after cross. Minus 0.5 for continuously fouling them at the end at 2-1

Baker 7 - solid if unspectacular
Ejaria 5 - personally thought he was poor, lost it a lot
Rino 8 - cracking finish from the POTS, probably should have given away a penalty

Meite 8 - running towards their goal, he was causing danger throughout. Needs to improve his hold up play, ball still bounced off him a couple of times. Possibly should have done better with the chance at 1-0 but cracking finish for the goal
Barrow 7 - good assist, worked hard and created opportunities

McCleary 5 - was slow and off the pace, but was probably the right sub at the right time

Gomes 7 - good 11, shocking lack of subs which he would have been criticised for had we lost. The ball was coming back and back at us after around 70, should have brought on Harriott to play up top just for fresh legs

Norwich - the Madejski is often a morgue, but Carrow Road wasn't much better considering their position. Got behind the lines well, but luckily for us, Pukki had an off day and Cantwell is no where the same level as Buendia. Did expect more from them in all honesty, but was probably difficult for them considering how well our shape was

Ref - missed two pens - one for either side which he should have given, kept giving annoying niggly fouls which weren't freekicks. Not the greatest ref we've seen this season

Yeah, doubt we ‘controlled and held them’ at any point really? Could have been 5-1 or more if I’m honest. Fine margins. I’ll watch it again, as I often do, but can’t fault the effort either way.
McCleary disappointing, step slow, even vs tired legs.
Blackett, tweener LB, stiff & too far off his man, tho his height really helps in this side.
Baker, player in there, but needs better team around him, a la Swift.
Rino, great goal for us and him.
Miazga, has done really well, but think we could sign a tall-ish CB?
Meite, they are bringing him along well in Champ, Oli has influenced.

Thought Blackett was exceptional second half. Bit shaky in the first but really turned it round

Couple of wonder saves from Martinez again. Kept us in it

Worth noting it was a good assist by McCleary. Great finish by Rino but was given a very good chance by G

Thought everyone did well. Meite is back to his best, Barrow working hard and scoring and creating goals. Rino has made a big difference. Ejaria worked hard and held the ball up well on occasions if not his best game

It's almost like, exactly as when Clement showed faith in him, a run of games has seen Meite find his stride in the team to perform to his potential.

I assumed he must have touched it because the ref gave a corner did he not?
At the time, thought the shot came off a defender? Anyway, good write up Norfolk, and well said. Agree, esp re. Gunter.
The commentators said "it must have hit a defender" but I didnt see who. The replay they showed on ifollow of the shots was from behind the goal and I dont think Martinez touched it but he certainly had it covered if it were on target.

Battling performance against all the odds. Good starting line up from Gomes, credit where it's due for his pragmatism rather than being ideological and going there and thinking we could go toe to toe with Norwich. Didn't think he had it in him.

Martinez - Brilliant saves to keep us in the game, especially the one from Pukki's header in the second half. 9 MotM

Gunter - One of his biggest critics but you have to give him credit for a good performance last night. Still let in quite a few crosses but closed down quite a few as well. Should have had a penalty in the first half. 8
Yiadom - Another very good display from the real player of the season, despite a position change. Made a very important tackle to win the ball back for our second goal, if he hadn't have made it then Norwich would have been through on goal for their third. 8
Miazga - Not quite at his best but still played a big role in an heroic defensive performance. 7
Blackett - A very good performance from Tyler. Disciplined positionally and very little came down his side. 8

Baker - Did all he had to do. Doesn't get much attention but has really stepped up recently. 7
Rinomhota - Lucky to not give away a penalty in the second half. Other than that, good. Especially that goal. Bright future. 7
Ejaria - Struggled at times. 6

Meite - Brave as usual. Worked hard and a brilliantly taken goal. Should have done better with a shot in the second half. 8
Barrow - Great work on the first goal to nick the ball. 7

Subs:

McCleary - Good work for the Rinomhota goal. 6

Baldock and Loader didn't have enough time for an impact. N/A

Moore?

Moore and Miazga were obviously pretty good. I did think Pukki got a bit too much space at times in the area though. He probably should have scored

Pukki looked tired to me, normally he runs the opposition defenders ragged but other than a couple of half chances he was very quiet.

Does anyone have a link to highlights?

Cheers

Moore?

Whoops.

Moore - Brave performance particularly as his shoulder is still obviously bothering him. Organised the defence well. 8

If you look at Rinomhota goal carefully you can actually pinpoint the second the Norwich fans hearts rip in half.

Cheers, could cry x

Funny one. My talking points:

First Goal

Completely against the run of play but it's what we had planned and we executed it brilliant. Yet another ball to Barrow, use his pace, and Meite in the right place with a great finish. Gomes' tactics spot on.

Gomes' tactics

Spot on it seems. 5 at the back, a pacey and a strong player up front who caused them havoc when they had the chance. At 2-2 we hand it to him as a brilliant stroke of genius. BUT at 2-1 I was cursing him for doing the same old bullshit of trying to hold onto 1-0. How many times have we seen this before? Far far too many times, trying to hold on only for us to eventually concede in the dying minutes. Yet we've also see that when we have nothing to lose and try and attack we seem to manage it. Attack is another form of defence, and had it ended 2-1 I'd have said he got that tried and failed tactic of holding onto a lead completely wrong. But as it happens he go a point and we'll be calling him a genius.

Blackett

I shall no longer call him Liability Blackett. The guy is really turning into a good player.

The team

All brilliant. Can't fault anybody at all and all were heroes in different ways. All did a great job from what I could tell.

The ref

Awful.

The score

Obviously a brilliant result which I'd have snapped up before the game. More importantly is what it does for spirit and morale. At 1-1 it'd have felt like a defeat. The 2-2 feels like a victory and the players must be in really high spirits, which is exactly what we need right now.

yep, that goal massively change the confidence. will come back bouncing from that game, where it looked like a huge kick in the teeth

Well, that was the emotional roller-coaster.

I'm being churlish after a performance of such grit and determination but, while Meite is a very willing runner and shows some pace and strength, he really does need to work tirelessly on his first touch. It is still completely woeful. If he did manage to control a ball he would probably be one hell of a player.

Full creds to Gunts who was completely assured and Blackett who, despite continuing to give a good impression of Bambi on ice at times, had a stonking game last night.

Re: subs. I thought Adi's comment about "not wanting to disrupt the back eight (!), they all know their tasks and who to mark so don't fiddle with it with subs unless someone is completely flagging" had some real sense to it.

A win for them last night followed by another on Saturday would have been them up wouldn't it? Shame.

It's the collective intake of breath and then the silence - the beautiful silence that gets me.

Miazga, 6'4" I think, when you say tall-ish, just how tall are you thinking?

The silence from the commentators (the tw@t was Tony Gale wasn't it?) was also a thing of beauty

The silence from the commentators (the tw@t was Tony Gale wasn't it?) was also a thing of beauty
He was a prick the whole game, going on about our time wasting and sitting back behind the ball as if we were meant to go there and make it nice and open for top of the league Norwich.

I was delighted for 84 minutes. We looked tough to beat. We rarely look tough to beat. I say it every week now but those oxf*rd January loans. I struggle to believe any other team has ever had 5 loans from 1 window go down quite so well.

Martinez deservedly getting praise. Hes a hell of a keeper. His distribution was a little panicked but he did well throughout I thought.

Gunter did a superb job. In the first half he looked top notch. You would never have guessed hes been out of the team for a while based on that performance.

Yiadom filled in very well as a CB. What a great buy he was. He looked composed and confident.

Miazga did a Miazga. He has such good positional sense and has a talent for nicking balls away from tricky players.

Moore was a rock. He was solid throughout.

Blackett was surprisingly the best of the back 5. He maybe left a little too much space between him and touch but for the most part he was excellent. It speaks to his improved ability that he wasnt shunted into CB.

Rinomhota was very good again. Who wanted to rest him??? (coughURZZZcough) Well taken goal and the exact sort of commanding presence we have been crying out for. delighted to have witnessed his first senior goal and they dont come much better.

Baker was good enough. Hes usually a bit more in control I think? Still he played well. Got called for a lot of minor fouls most refs would have let go.

Ejaria was tricksy and fast but mucked up a few counter attacking passes. Needs experience but played well. Better than Kelly...

Barrow is showing why I spent the first half of the season defending him. While he was in poor form under Clement so many people turned on him. "Hes lazy" "Waste of Space" etc.. Those comments were harsh then and reflect poorly on those of you who said them. On Twitter in February some guy complained endlessly about Barrow and said after he was dropped to the bench for a game that Gomes obviously didnt fancy him. I hope that guy takes a long hard look at himself. Barrows pace has yet again created a goal for us. He simply offers too much to this team and his pairing with Meite is becoming beautiful.

Meite was very good again. Well taken goal and looked strong on the ball.

The tactics were spot on. I was worried when I saw the formation on Twitter but then we played a different formation and it really played to our strengths. Meite and Barrow playing as a striking pair was actually pretty good. Keep that one in the back pocket Gomes. It might come in handy again.

Miazga, 6'4" I think, when you say tall-ish, just how tall are you thinking?
Millwall have a CB who is 6ft6 or 6ft7 depending on the source. Maybe give him a look?