USL2 Game Recap: Reading United AC 4 – 1 West Chester United SC
On Saturday, June 13th, Reading United AC were ruthless in attack, defeating West Chester United SC 4-1 at home.
A beautiful summer evening at Alvernia University set the stage for the latest edition of Reading United AC vs. West Chester United. Last time out, RUAC suffered a 3-1 defeat away in Wayne, PA, and back at home, they were looking to avenge that result and climb the league table.
The first chance of the match came from the visitors, however, when Henry Bernstein stood over a free kick and tried to catch RUAC goalkeeper Eoin Kennedy off guard from distance. Kennedy was alert to the danger, parrying the ball out for a corner.
The early chance from Bernstein proved to be an important wake-up call for RUAC, who responded by spraying the ball out wide and attacking the West Chester backline with pace in the minutes that followed.
RUAC were on the front foot in the early goings and were rewarded with the breakthrough in the 12th minute, when striker Nicholas Papadopoulos found himself through on goal and caressed a left-footed strike into the bottom left corner.
Oozing with confidence, RUAC continued to press West Chester out of the back. In the 17th minute, a high press from Charlie Williams forced West Chester’s Nicholas Kraemer into a costly mistake right in front of his own net. RUAC forward Isaac Stanley pounced on the loose ball and scored. 2-0 RUAC.
For the remainder of the first half, RUAC continued their dominance and pushed for the important third goal. They thought they had found it, but Elliott brilliantly denied Stanley and then Papadopoulos in a dramatic scramble in the box. Right before the break, a surging Stanley drove the length of the pitch and almost connected with an onrushing Papadopoulos. Content to hold the ball and see out the half, RUAC headed into halftime up 2-0.
To start the second half, West Chester made a couple of tactical substitutions to combat RUAC’s offensive firepower. Nevertheless, it was still RUAC on the front foot. In the 54th minute, the ball pinballed around and found its way to Quinn Olcott at the back post, who neatly directed it into the right side of the net. Olcott celebrated in style, triumphantly kicking the corner flag, which earned himself a yellow card in the process.
The match began to open up at this point, with both sides given half chances, but a combination of misplayed passes and poor control let them go to waste. RUAC remained up 3-0.
In the 72nd minute, West Chester had their first real chance of the second half, when Ammit Bhogal struck a dead ball set piece sweetly but was unable to trouble Kennedy.
RUAC made a flurry of changes, including bringing on striker Michiharu Takanashi, who made his presence immediately apparent. A dragback from fellow substitute Shugai Kaliisa teed up Takanashi, whose shot trickled off the right post. The follow up from Santiago Apolaro was denied by Elliott.
RUAC pressed on and a misplay around halfway allowed speedy substitute Kingsley Kanu to pounce and drive towards goal on the right flank. Kanu picked his head up and delivered a beautiful low driven cross that was met by Adrian Kang Hagman for RUAC’s fourth goal of the match in the 82nd minute.
With minutes to go, RUAC tried to preserve a clean sheet, but against the run of play Kanu conceded a foul and West Chester captain Gavin Wetsel stepped up to the spot. Cool, calm and collected, Wetsel struck the ball right down the middle, in what turned out to be a consolation goal for the visitors.
Some late chances from Takanashi and Kaliisa troubled Elliott, but the match ended 4-1 to RUAC.
RUAC concludes their homestand on Tuesday, June 15th, when they host Real Central NJ.
