English nPower Championship Playoff Final 2011: Game Underway, Reading Instantly On The Attack

We are underway int he 2011 nPower Championship playoff final, and we’ve had an action-packed match so far. Reading are pressing their Welsh opponents very high up the pitch, and that’s paying off as it leads to a series of Swansea errors, culminating in a low cross that Dorus de Vries made an absolute mess of. The ball bounced around the penalty area with de Vries prone for several heart-stopping seconds before Swansea could finally clear their lines - Reading were literally within inches of taking the league here.

Of course, Swansea are doing more than defending - Scott Sinclair won a dangerous free kick with one of his trademark slashing runs, but Fabio Borini completely wasted the effort, skying the ball well over Adam Frederici’s goal from about nineteen yards. Sinclair found himself a victim of another foul seconds later, this time seeing his opponent Andy Griffin receive a booking for a two-footed tackle from behind. End to end stuff so far, still 0-0 nine minutes in.