Barnsley held on to fifth spot with a hard fought draw against the side directly below them in the table.
This was the 11th Championship match in which Barnsley have been behind at half time in 2020-2021 and only the third time they have come back and not lost, with this the first time they have drawn when behind at the break this season (the other two were wins against Preston and Bournemouth)
Alex Mowatt’s penalty equaliser was Barnsley’s 50th league goal of the season, one more than they managed in the whole of 2019-2020 and their most at this level since 2016-2017 (64)
Due to Cauley Woodrow having been substituted by this point Mowatt took the penalty, it was the 13th successful league penalty in a row for Barnsley (1 Moore, 11 Woodrow, 1 Mowatt)
Barnsley have gone successive league games without a win for the first time since they failed to win any of the first five matches of 2021.
Following a run of 20 games in a row without a draw (all comps) –all under Valerian Ismael, Barnsley have subsequently drawn four of 15.
Ismael only made three substitutions in the game, the lowest he has made in 14 outings (all comps) since the draw with Cardiff in January (also three)
Romal Palmer was booked in the game and his replacement Aapo Halme was also yellow carded – the first time such a situation has occurred since the win at Brentford in February when Daryl Dike and his replacement Woodrow were both booked.
Barnsley have trailed at Oakwell at half time in successive games for the first time since November 2019 v Bristol City and Stoke.
It is only the fourth time in 24 home games (all comps) this season that the Reds have been behind at the break (Bournemouth, Swansea, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading)
Barnsley have failed to win any of their last eight meetings with the Royals (D4 L4) and the Berkshire outfit are now unbeaten in their last nine visits to Oakwell (W5 D4).
Each of the last three Oakwell meetings have finished 1-1.
Barnsley have failed to score more than once in each of the last nine Oakwell meetings.
Barnsley had 16 shots in the game, the joint second most they have had in a league game this season, only against Bristol City back in October have they had more (17)
Reading scored with their only effort on target, the second successive game an opponent has scored with their only efforts on target and ninth time it has occurred in 2020-2021 – also 2 v Swansea home and away, 2 at home to Sheffield Wednesday and 1 v Reading, Luton, Birmingham, Huddersfield and Chelsea.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
26. Michael Sollbauer
30. Michal Helik
6. Mads Andersen
7. Callum Brittain
21. Romal Palmer
27. Alex Mowatt
4. Callum Styles
28. Dominik Frieser
29. Victor Adeboyejo
9. Cauley Woodrow
Substitutes:
10. Daryl Dike (for Woodrow 45)
14. Carlton Morris (for Adeboyejo 45)
24. Aapo Halme (for Palmer 57)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 2. Jordan Williams, 11. Conor Chaplin, 20. Toby Sibbick, 22. Clarke Oduor, 34. Jasper Moon.
Reading Team:
33. Rafael Cabral Barbosa
17. Andy Yiadom
4. Michael Morrison
6. Liam Moore
15. Lewis Gibson
8. Andy Rinomhota
28. Josh Laurent
11. Yakou Meite
7. Michael Olise
14. Ovie Ejaria
18. Lucas João
Substitutions:
29. Thomas Holmes (for Morrison 42)
30. Alfa Semedo (for Olise 84)
Unused Substitutes:
2. Tomas Pontes Esteves, 3. Omar Richards, 9. Sam Baldock, 22. Luke Southwood, 24. Sone Aluko, 34. Dejan Tetek, 47. George Puscas.
Reading manager Veljko Paunovic said :
"It wasn't tight, we were the better team and we absolutely deserved to win.
"You can't ask for more than then chances we had with Yakou at the start of the game and Lucas in the second half. I'm not happy with one point but we move on.
"It's not the first time Lucas has missed a good chance. You have to support him because the team needs him and there is no time for lamentations.
"I have a good rapport with him and it's important to see how he is feeling so that this kind of thing doesn't happen in the future."
Sky Bet Championship results
FRIDAY 2ND APRIL 2021
AFC Bournemouth (7th) 3-1 Middlesbrough (9th)
Billing 14
Watmore 63
Lerma 66
Solanke 83
Bristol City (14th) 0-2 Stoke City (11th)
Powell 25
Fletcher 62
Cardiff City (8th) 0-1 Nottingham Forest (16th)
Garner 29
Derby County (19th) 2-0 Luton Town (13th)
Gregory 7
Shinnie pen 49
Millwall (10th) 1-0 Rotherham United (22nd)
Wallace 64
Preston North End (17th) 1-1 Norwich City (1st)
Buendia 17
Potts 90+5
Queens Park Rangers (12th) 3-0 Coventry City (21st)
Willock 2
Rose og 22
Chair 68
Watford (2nd) 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday (23rd)
Lees og 7
Wycombe Wanderers (24th) 1-0 Blackburn Rovers (15th)
Onyedinma 47
BARNSLEY (5th) 1-1 Reading (6th)
Ejaria 34
Mowatt pen 61
Birmingham City (20th) 1-0 Swansea City (4th)
Hogan pen 90+1
SATURDAY 3RD APRIL 2021
Huddersfield Town (18th) 1-1 Brentford (3rd)
O’Brien 7
Bech Sorensen 50
Barnsley lie in 5th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 65 points from 39 games. We are 3 points inside the Play-Offs, 13 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 19 points off First Place and 30 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 4/4/21
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Forty: Luton Town v Barnsley, Monday 5th April 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Forty One: Barnsley v Middlesbrough, Saturday 10th April 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm