2011 nPower Championship Playoffs: Reading-Cardiff, Forest-Swansea Both End Scoreless

Reading and Cardiff City played a tough, physical match with some serious entertainment value at the Madejski Stadium today, but unfortunately, the biggest story to come out of this game was an injury. After 16 minutes, Cardiff’s Craig Bellamy pulled up lame with a hamstring injury, and as a result, he was substituted off for Michael Chopra. There’s no word yet on the severity of the injury, but it seems highly unlikely that Bellamy will be able to play the second leg of the tie on Tuesday.

Though neither team was unambitious or looking for a draw, both Reading and Cardiff were most concerned with keeping a clean sheet tonight. The 0-0 result was much more the product of good defending than inept offense or negative tactics, and as a result it was an entertaining fixture. However, after two straight 0-0 draws in what is usually the most exciting football tournament anywhere, fans will be hungry for goals in the second legs.

If you think that 0-0 implies a boring game, think again. Nottingham Forest and Swansea City played an absolute thriller in the first leg of their 2011 Championship playoff semifinal at the City Ground, and it was only due to some stellar goalkeeping, a poor decision by the referee, and some plain bad luck that neither team was able to score. Both teams had plenty of chances to score, but neither was able to convert. After sealing a draw in Nottingham, Swansea will feel confident going back to Wales, where they will have the home crowd behind them.

They will also likely have 11 men for more than one minute in the return leg, a luxury they did not experience in this game. That’s because young defender Neil Taylor got sent off after making a terrible studs-up tackle into the thigh of Lewis McGugan just 52 seconds into the game, for which Mike Dean rightfully showed him a red card.

It’s been a bad 10 minutes to start the first half for Swansea City. Nottingham Forest has been the much better team to start the second half, as they should have been more often during the first half, due to the fact that their opponents have 10 men. Additionally, Swansea have been hit with yet another personnel blow, as striker Fabio Borini has gone off injured.

Dorus De Vries has been forced into duty for Swansea, and he made a stunning save on Lewis McGugan in the 53rd minute to keep Forest off the board. Robert Earnshaw has continued to look dangerous for the hosts, but he’s still not on the scoreboard. He’s missed two solid opportunities with shots over the bar in the second half, one of which was a very poor miss.

It took 35 minutes, but the strikers of Nottingham Forest finally look like they feel like getting involved in this Championship Playoff tie. Dorus De Vries has matched Lee Camp’s efforts on the other end of the pitch, keeping Swansea locked in a 0-0 draw with Forest, but it has to be slightly worrying to Swansea fans that the team that has 11 men is finally starting to get into the game and create chances.

Kris Boyd started the move, as he took the ball wide down the right flank on a counter-attack. Robert Earnshaw was sprinting to get into the penalty area after being far back on defense, and his effort was what created the chance. Boyd put a cross across the top of the box, right into the stride of Earnshaw, and the Welsh veteran hit a hard shot at goal. However, De Vries was right there to make a fantastic stop, and Swansea are still on level terms.

In the last 10-15 minutes, Swansea City, who were reduced to 10 men in the opening two minutes of the game, have been seriously piling on the pressure against Nottingham Forest. That pressure has now translated to chances, and from the 20th minute through the 22nd, Swansea actually created a number of chances. Thanks to Forest goalkeeper Lee Camp, the score is still 0-0, but there’s no reason why Forest should be so far on their back foot.

Fabio Borini has been the man creating chances for the visitors, having a couple of headers saved by Camp. A third save came as a part of a large scramble on a corner kick, seconds after Camp tipped a Borini header over the bar.

Swansea City are down to ten men after Neil Taylor’s red card, but their lack of numbers haven’t stopped them from attacking Nottingham Forest. Stephen Dobbie, the hybrid attacking midfielder/second striker was withdrawn for Garry Monk, who slotted into Taylor’s slot in defense, but Swansea have made no other changes. As a result, the central midfielders have more responsibility going both ways while everyone else’s role stays basically the same. So far, it’s working.

Right after Taylor’s red card, Forest were the aggressors. However, from around the 10th minute on, Swansea have been the much better side, for almost 10 minutes at this point. Leon Britton and Joe Allen are working very hard in the midfield, while wingers Nathan Dyer and Scott Sinclair are making life hard on the hosts with their speed. Forest are trying to play a style that is too direct for a team with a man advantage, and they would probably be best served by slowing it down and playing a short passing style.