Charlton Athletic 0-0 Reading: A Capital Point

The Royals’ unbeaten run continues thanks to a resolute showing at The Valley.

You get good draws and bad draws, but today’s 0-0 at Charlton Athletic was certainly the former. Not the dull affair the scoreline may suggest, this was a well contested, difficult encounter that the hosts edged in terms of chances, territory and spells of momentum - so I’m delighted with the clean sheet and point the Royals managed.

It brings the winning run to an end, sure, but it’s still a point gained. Charlton were coming into this match in their own purple patch too, having also won their previous three, not to mention the advantages of location and freshness, due to their New Year’s Day game being postponed. In the face of all that, I’ll gladly take the point.

This was also a Reading side battered by absences. Though Amadou Mbengue returned to the XI following illness a few days ago, Noel Hunt had to do without wingers Chem Campbell and Mamadi Camara, in addition to those already in the treatment room: Jeriel Dorsett, Michael Craig, Ben Elliott and Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan among them.

Still, Reading had the spirit, resolve and maturity to manage the game effectively and get over the line. They had plenty of pressure to ride out and, though the match didn’t afford the Royals many opportunities to play their game - building attacks with the ball on the deck, getting the pressing system going higher up the pitch - they didn’t grow frustrated.

Contrast that to the last time came here. Reading actually played pretty well for the first hour or so of 2023’s trip to The Valley, but they utterly capitulated in the second half to lose 4-0. This time the Royals kept their heads and maintained their concentration - small but underrated factors in being able to grind out results away from home.

Hunt was forced into naming a fairly makeshift XI today due to those previously mentioned absences, with Reading setting up as so:

Reading (4-3-3): Pereira; Mbengue, Dean, Bindon, Kanu; Knibbs, Wing, Savage; Abrefa, Smith, Garcia

Subs: Button, Ahmed, Holzman, Rushesha, Osho, Sackey, Wareham

The two sides cancelled each other out for much of the first 45 minutes, with quality chances at a premium. It was the kind of half that, while decent in terms of quality, was pretty short on incident.

Harvey Knibbs came the closest of anyone in a blue and white shirt, forcing a Charlton defender into a big block quarter of an hour in after the ball had fallen for him via a Kelvin Abrefa cross. Amadou Mbengue also whipped a dangerous cross into the area from the left, 10 minutes later, that Tyler Bindon couldn’t quite convert.

Those opportunities were pretty much as good as it got for the Royals before the break. Charlton on the other hand grew into the game pretty well and ended the first half as probably the stronger of the two teams, but without seriously testing Joel Pereira.

Reading came out of the traps flying following the interval and should have been 1-0 up within a few minutes. Knibbs played the ball through for the onrushing Sam Smith, who held off the defender to leave only the ‘keeper to beat, but his finish wasn’t good enough, being tipped wide for a corner.

That was the chance of the game for Reading, although Smith had a couple of other lower-quality ones later on. A Lewis Wing free-kick found the striker at the back post, with his volley blocked for a corner (the Royals unsuccessfully appealing for handball), and Smith nodded the resulting delivery high and wide of the near post.

Shortly after, the hosts ‘took the lead’ when Tyreece Campbell raced in behind and blasted a shot past Pereira before celebrating wildly for a good long while... or so it very briefly seemed. Eventually Campbell realised that the linesman’s flag was up (it had gone up pretty quickly in fact), but he’d at least given the 3,000 or so Reading fans at the other end one of the funniest moments of the Royals’ season.

Charlton were the stronger side from then on in though, looking the likelier to score in the remainder of the game. Reading limited the quality of their chances pretty well though, with the highlight defensive action being an excellent charge back from Charlie Savage to put in a last-ditch challenge to stop a goal. Pereira was equal to everything else.

A shortage of options on the bench meant Reading weren’t really in a position to be able to push forwards late on and look for the win. We’re now pretty much down to the bare bones of the Royals’ senior squad, even if talented (but very raw) youngsters are there to make up the shortfall on the bench.

Hunt freshened up the front three by replacing one right-back playing on the right-wing (Abrefa) with another (Ashqar Ahmed), while Jayden Wareham got a brief run-out in place of Andre Garcia on the other side. He also repeated his previous trick of switching the Royals into a back three/five late on to see the game out, with Ahmed and Kanu at wing-back, while Knibbs (right wing) and Garcia/Wareham (left) went either side of Smith.

This was very much the proverbial ‘game we would have lost a while ago’. Grinding out a clean sheet and point doesn’t carry the same glamour as winning 3-1 in some style, but in a game like this - and with the squad so battered by injury - it sure was difficult. Meeting the challenge was the latest sign that this Reading team is learning, developing and becoming an increasingly potent force - regardless of the individual personnel chosen.

The point also means Reading drop to sixth but stay in the playoffs (Barnsley winning to go fifth, Stockport County losing at home to Mansfield Town and finishing the day in seventh). Though some of the teams below us (Mansfield and Bolton Wanderers) have a game in hand on us, having points on the board now and being a few clear of seventh is a fantastic position in which to end this block of fixtures.

Next up is an FA Cup clash with Burnley, when Reading will surely heavily rotate. That break from league action, in addition to clear mid-weeks either side, is a valuable breather after an intense period. Hopefully the Royals come back afterwards recharged and with a few players back from the treatment room.