Sunday, July 1, 2012
READING, Pa. – Reading United took a 4-0 victory against the Brooklyn Knights on Sunday night to remain in contention for the PDL playoffs. Deshorn Brown scored a pair of goals for the second consecutive game, while Stephen Okai added another goal from a set piece as the side moved closer to a fifth consecutive appearance in the postseason.
Reading struck first in the 21st minute as Matt Baker shook off his defender along the right side of the penalty area and found a streaking Steven Neumann for an early 1-0 advantage. It was the second straight match against Brooklyn that Neumann has netted the game-winner.
Four minutes later, Okai found himself at the penalty spot after Pedro Ribeiro was taken down in the box. Okai’s penalty attempt was blasted past a helpless Ed Shone, netting a goal off a restart for the second straight game.
Reading continued its impressive run of play in the second half, finding plenty of space in the midfield to operate. Okai utilized this space in the 63rd minute with a perfectly weighted through-ball that found Brown just outside the penalty area, and the striker, with a defender on his back, eased his attempt towards the far post for a 3-0 lead.
Brown capped off his second straight brace in the 68th minute after a nifty give-and-go with Ribeiro from 20 yards out. His effort found some space behind the Knights’ goalkeeper, trickling in for Reading’s fourth. The goal also pushed Brown into a tie for second place in the PDL with nine goals in 11 matches.
The victory was Reading’s fifth straight against Brooklyn, and their seventh in eight matches against their New York counterparts. Overall, since 2004, Reading is 10-2 against the Knights, averaging just under three goals per contest.
Reading keeper Emmanuel Martin made three saves to preserve the shutout, his sixth of the season. All three of his saves came in the first half. Martin now ranks third in goals allowed (six in 11 games), tied for first in wins (8), fourth in shutouts (6) and fourth in goals against average (0.545).
With the win, Reading picked up another three points to slide back into third place in the Mid Atlantic Division. Jersey Express also has the same record (8-2-2, 26 points), and Jersey currently holds the first tiebreaker thanks to its 2-0 win on June 17. Ocean City leads both teams by four points after it took a 4-0 win against the Bermuda Hogges.
Reading will have nearly a week of rest before travelling to City Park Stadium to face the Westchester Flames (1-8-2, 5 points), the only matchup between the divisional opponents this season. United will then finish their season with three games in five days (July 11th at Jersey Express, July 13th vs. Ocean City, July 15th at Central Jersey).