In his very short time at the club, Nelson Oliveira has certainly made an impact at Reading both on the pitch and off the pitch.
Having made his debut in the away game to Bolton at the end of January, in the three matches that Oliveira has featured in, he has bagged two goals. A penalty on his debut and the winning goal in the game last night against Blackburn. He has already missed one game against Sheffield Wednesday, but no one can begrudge him that absence given the circumstances.
The Norwich loanee is the type of striker that Royals fans have been crying out for. A natural goalscorer who not only proves a handful in and around the area, but is capable of a long range effort as well, evidenced by his goal against Rovers. If the man from Portugal can continue this goalscoring rate for the rest of the season, then one would have to think that that can only inspire the team to carry on winning points and getting away from the dreaded drop zone.
His impact off the pitch and in the stands has been massive too. Strikers who score goals always get the loudest cheers when their name is read out on the tannoy system. Not to mention, goals give fans something to cheer about. The atmosphere last night at the Madejski was better than it has been for a while because the team gave the fans a reason to get behind them. Albeit, not the greatest performance, goals and the team being in a winning position always gives the crowd a reason to make some noise.
Oliveira has been a man that Reading have wanted for a long time, and now we finally have him, he is certainly justifying why we have been suitors for so long. Let’s hope that this continues for the rest of the season.
