Reading 1 Leeds United 2: Staam calls for '˜time penalties' in response to bottle-throwing fans

Reading boss Jaap Stam acknowledged his team had to dig deep for their 1-0 win over Leeds United.
Jaap StamJaap Stam
Jaap Stam

A 21st-minute goal from Yann Kermorgant enabled the Royals to leapfrog their rivals into fourth place in the Sky Bet Championship.

Stam said: “We created a couple of very good chances, two one-on-ones with their goalie, but we didn’t score.

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“That can make it difficult for yourself but luckily Yann scored that important goal for us.

Saturday's referee Kevin Stroud.Saturday's referee Kevin Stroud.
Saturday's referee Kevin Stroud.

“In the second half, Leeds changed their game a bit. But we reacted to that quite well.

“We had to defend more and dig in deep. We needed to work hard to get the result and that’s what we’ve done.

“I’m very happy with both the win and the performance. We played particularly well in the first half, dominated and created some very good chances.”

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On two separate occasions in the second half, home goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi had to remove bottles thrown on to the pitch by fans in the Leeds section behind the goal.

Saturday's referee Kevin Stroud.Saturday's referee Kevin Stroud.
Saturday's referee Kevin Stroud.

Referee Keith Stroud allowed six minutes of stoppage time at the end and Stam said: “If the opposition need to go for the win and their own fans are throwing bottles on the pitch, I think the referee needs to stop the game but not add any extra minute or whatever.

“It’s the opposition, they’re behind, they need to score goals, their own fans are giving problems and the referee should say ‘Okay, I’m not going to add extra time, I’m going to take 30 seconds off’.”