Reading 2 Argyle 0: Match report

TO no-one’s great surprise, Argyle fell at the first hurdle in the EFL Cup for the fourth season in succession, succumbing to Championship opponents who, at the moment, they can only aspire to emulate.

A double Dutch dose of first-half goals from Joey van den Berg and his fellow Netherlander Roy Beerens, a full international, gave countryman Jaap Stam his first knockout victory since become manager at the Madejski in June.

Argyle manager Derek Adams had made four changes to the Pilgrims’ starting line-up from the one which began the previous Saturday’s 3-0 Sky Bet League 2 Home Park defeat by Luton Town.

Vincent Dorel was selected to keep goal in place of captain Luke McCormick, with the skipper’s armband passing to Gary Sawyer; Fox was the preferred David in a midfield three as Ijaha also started life on the bench; and Fox’s fellow Saturday substitutes Jake Jervis and Jordan Slew formed a three-man attacking unit with David Goodwilie, having swapped places with Jimmy Spencer and Ryan Donaldson.

Reading, 1-0 Madejski winners against Preston at the weekend, shuffled their pack even more, making eight changes of personnel. Craig Tanner, who played 50 times for the Pilgrims last season, was among their replacements.

It was a Tanner-like run, straight into the heart of the Argyle defence from John Swift, that threatened to undo a solid start by the Pilgrims’ back four but, speaking of things solid, Swift’s progress was halted with little fuss by Yann Songo’o.

Swift quickly bounced up and was able to deliver the free-kick from the Argyle right that gave Reading the lead, Van den Berg timing his unhindered run to the edge of the six-yard box and glancing a header past Dorel.

Argyle had understandably begun with a defensive game plan but the early goal necessitated opening up. That, in turn, encouraged Reading to play with even more impressive fluidity than previously.

Callum Harriott brought the best out of Dorel after Swift had broken against a defence that had pushed up and was therefore wrongfooted when Jervis was bundled off the ball to hasten a Reading counter attack.

Dorel made another good save minutes later, when Reading captain Chris Gunter joined in the home side’s fun from right-back, but the ball fell to the feet of Beerens, who slammed the ball home.

Argyle, to their credit, did not let their heads drop in the face of now insurmountable odds. They worked hard and looked to make the most of what scraps came their way. A Slew-led break in first-half injury-time had the home side on the back foot and showed promise.