Reading (Away) 19.07.2025

It didn’t take long for Charlie Savage to show that he takes after his father by going in late on Pedro Porro, but then his free-kick on 10 minutes was headed back into the goalmouth where Toni Kinsky’s punch went behind him and Porro had to head it off the line at the far post.  When the ball was recycled, it was Savage who hit w shot wildly wide.

Tottenham’s first decent chance came in the 15th minute when Alfie Devine played a ball into the box from the left and Dominic Solanke got on the end of it, but stretching, he wasn’t able to keep his volley down.  It was an untidy start to Tottenham’s pre-season, with neither side stringing many passes together and it was a little surprising that it was Brighton’s on loan striker O’Mahony that was the first one in the book for a nasty late lunge at Porro just after half an hour.  A few minutes later, Mikey Moore weaved in off the left wing past two players before looking to slip the ball into the six-yard box for Solanke, but it was cleared for a corner.  From that, the ball dropped for Pape Matar Sarr to drive in a shot at the near post that Pereira did well to block and the ball then hit Brennan Johnson’s hand to kill any further pressure on the Reading goal.  A couple of minutes before the break, Moore again looked to slide the ball through to Dom in the box, but it was just a bit too heavy and ran through to the keeper.

A deep Moore cross forced the keeper to push it out for a corner and that was cleared, but Spurs worked it back to Porro on the right.  His cross to the far post left the keeper with no opportunity to reach it, but Cristian Romero put his header into the side-netting when he was free at the far post just before the half-time whistle.

As Thomas Frank has laid out in his press conference the day before, the second half featured a complete change of the players, with the passing much more fluent from the start.  Sonny produced a step-over ti create space to cross, with the ball headed out for a corner.  Mohammed Kudus took it, Luka Vuskovic rose to head it on and Will Lankshear was there to head in from close range at the far post.  It had taken a shade over two minutes for the new XI to score.

A second goal followed with the same personnel involved.  Son won the corner, Kudus took it, it was cleared but Djed Spence won a header that went over the Reading defence to the left, where Mohammed collected the ball.  He rolled a pass to his right for Luka Vuskovic to sweep a low shot across Pereira into the far side of the net to make it 2-0 on 53 minutes.  It was a goal taken like a striker with the 18 year old defender showing why he built a reputation with Westerlo last season as a goal-scorer.

When Djed Spence got caught on the ball, Savage crossed and Garcia had a free header, but with Guglielmo Vicario diving to his right, it was Vuskovic who got his body in the way to block the effort.  Play was a little disjointed as a string of free-kicks disrupted any flow, with Son having the next big chance for Spurs in the 71st minute, when a corner came out to him, but his volley was ballooned into the stand behind the goal.  With 15 minutes left, Lucas Bergvall gave the ball straight to Borgnis inside the Spurs box, but did enough to win the ball off the Reading defender with the home players wanting a penalty, but Borgnis went down too easily.

Spence and Kudus made a good link-up on the right when Spurs played out from the back and with Lankshear and Son making ground into the box, the new signing played the ball behind them for Jamie Donley, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner.  A short corner at the other end produced a clear shooting opportunity for Elliott on the left corner of the box and Vicario had to tip it over in case it dipped under the bar.  From this corner, the ball bobbled about the box until a header had to be blocked behind by Ben Davies.

Yves Bissouma played a deep diagonal that Ryan should have dealt with, but his attempt to chest the ball down allowed Djed to take the ball off him and hit a shot to the near post that sub keeper Stevens did well to block away for a corner.  That was cleared again, but it was won back and played to Bergvall in the box.  He showed a bit of rustiness, dwelling on the ball too long and having it robbed off him, which was in line with some of his passing which was a bit loose.  Reading broke through the Spurs defence and a ball across the box had to be cleared away by Vuskovic.  As the clocked ticked past the 90 minute mark, Ahmed hit a low drive from just outside the penalty area on the right, but Vic dived to his right to push the ball away and that was the last action of the match.

There were some good performances for a first warm-up match and the fitness regime that Thomas Frank is putting the squad through is showing its benefits already.  Some strong pressing and strength in possession showed that the groundwork for the way the new manager wants to play are starting to take shape.  The first half team did well, with Reading rarely getting a sight of goal and when they did, Pedro Porro was there to stop the ball on the line, but the chances Spurs created weren’t taken.  That was something that changed soon after the restart with Will Lankshear alert enough to guide Luka Vuskovic’s header on from a corner into the goal.  The presence of the new young defender is daunting for opposition defences, as his height and physical strength will make him a useful weapon at set-pieces.  It was following another corner that he stayed up after the ball had been cleared and scored the second goal.  Mohammed Kudus showed great awareness when he go onto the ball when Djed Spence headed it over their right back and rolled a pass into the path of the 18 year old Croatian, who finished like a striker, cleanly putting the ball across the goalkeeper to find the net.

Kudus had a good half, showing pace, calmness and the ability to pick out a telling pass to offer a different option to Brennan Johnson on the right, although his assist for Vuskovic’s goal came on the left after he had taken a corner on that side.  Djed Spence did well on the right of the defence and Luka blocked an on-target effort doing his defensive duties, with Micky and Ben solid.  The only player who looked a little off the pace was Lucas, who is just coming back to fitness and will get better as the pre-season continues.  Of the first half eleven, Devine and Donley did OK without pulling up any trees, Dom got into the right positions and will get more service this season than last, while Destiny looked more of an attacking force on the left to match Porro on the other flank.

All in all a good first run out, as Frank tries to impose his style on the side.  Luton next Saturday will be a step up after another week on the training ground, with other players coming into the equation and the Spurs team will come up against a familiar face with keeper Josh Keeley heading to Kenilworth Road to join the Hatters.  Will he be able to keep Tottenham out ?  It will be an intriguing confrontation.

• Luka Vuskovic and Mohammed Kudus played their first games for Tottenham.