He’s called Puscas and he’s got a sensational goal in him. Where have we heard that one before? At £9million, George Puscas became Reading’s most expensive signing ever this month and he’s already living up to his price tag – and name.
There were just 23 minutes on the clock when the Romanian picked up the ball in his own half. Driving forward down the right, his stepover put Will Vaulks on his backside before he curled the ball past Alex Smithies from the tightest of angles.
It was the sort of strike legendary Hungarian forward Ferenc Puskas – who FIFA’s goal of the year award is named after – would have been proud of.
The man from the Mighty Magyars scored 622 for club and country across his career. His namesake settled for two and three points on his home debut.
It could have been so different – Neil Warnock wanted the ex-Inter Milan striker this summer. He had other problems to contend with, though. Lee Peltier was out with an ankle injury, while he also dropped Josh Murphy to the bench in favour of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
After a tepid start, Puscas had his moment. Breaking from a Cardiff free-kick, he steamed down the flank and soon found himself wheeling away to celebrate his first league goal for the hosts.
Before the break, he had a brace. John Swift centred from the right and there was the 23-year-old to poke through the legs of Smithies.
Reading manager Jose Gomes was happy with his impact but refused to focus on the new man: ‘It is always good for the strikers to give them confidence each time they score.
‘I am happy that he scored but it doesn’t matter, for me, who scored the goals. I don’t care about the name of the player. The most important thing today is that we got the three points.’
Warnock tried to change the game at the break, making two attacking substitutions as he threw on Isaac Vassell and Callum Paterson.
Reading still had the running of the game though, and Puscas might have been frustrated after Lucas Joao shot over the bar rather than crossing when he was in space in the box.
With eight minutes left, Puscas did have a chance to bag his hat-trick. In the only bad moment of his game though, with only Smithies between him and the net, he somehow sent the ball wide. It was his last contribution before he went off to a standing ovation.
When Swift burst through a minute later and smashed the ball into the bottom corner, this second defeat in three for Cardiff was confirmed.
Warnock’s side were fancied for promotion at the start of the campaign. On the back of this display, they will need to step up swiftly to live up to that billing.
Asked about Puscas, Warnock admitted: ‘He probably was the difference today. That’s what you pay for. He’s one of the lads we were looking at through the summer.
‘But they’ll have stiffer tests than what they had today.
He added: ‘When you defend badly like we are, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing Under 13s or playing in the Premier League. When you defend like we have been, you lose games.’
Gomes kept cautious despite the big win: ‘What gives confidence to the players and the team are victories. We won, we must use this properly, but we cannot dream.’
For Reading fans, after their first points on the board, there will be only one name on their minds – as much as their manager is thinking about the team. At least it’s an easy one to remember.
