Reds 11 points adrift after awful loss to Posh

Barnsley suffered a humiliating 2-0 home loss to their fellow relegation-battlers Peterborough United and moved closer to the impending relegation as they are 11 points from safety with four games to play.

The visitors took the lead midway through the first half then scored again late on, with the Reds starting both halves well and creating chances before conceding poor goals and fading badly. Overall, the hosts were extremely disappointing a must-win game.

Fourth-bottom Reading would have relegated Barnsley if they won but came from 4-1 down to draw 4-4 with Swansea City.

The last-placed Reds now have to win all four of their remaining games and hope that Reading pick up one or zero points from their final three games, while Barnsley also must overtake Posh.

The only change from Friday’s draw at Swansea saw Callum Styles come in for Matty Wolfe as the Reds reverted from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1.

Domingos Quina hit the crossbar after only 40 seconds, letting fly from just outside the box following good work by Carlton Morris on the left wing.

Romal Palmer headed Amine Bassi’s right-wing corner into the ground and saw it easily saved by goalkeeper David Corner then, at the other end, Jack Marriott was played into space on the left of the Reds’ box but shot over from about 15 yards.

Palmer had another chance in the 11th minute when he controlled Remy Vita’s low left-wing cross well but his eight-yard shot was too close to the goalkeeper who pushed it clear. That came after a good move involving passes by all the attacking midfielders Callum Styles, Bassi and Quina.

Bassi’s deep free-kick was then impressively headed by Morris 15 yards out towards the top right corner but Cornell pushed it over.

Posh almost took the lead in the 19th minute when an excellent Marriott pass played in Joe Ward on the right of the box with only Jack Walton to beat but the angle was tight and his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper.

The visitors did score in the 25th minute. Palmer lost a tackle when trying to win a loose ball just inside the Barnsley half and Callum Brittain sprinted out of position to win a ball he could not get to, leaving the left side of the home box free for Sammie Szmodics to play Marriott into and he netted with a good one-on-one finish.

Bassi and Styles then had low shots from outside the box which were weak and straight at Cornell before Morris saw a shot blocked in the box by Frankie Kent. But Barnsley were flat for the rest of the first half after conceding.

Woodrow came on at half-time for Vita as Barnsley reverted to 3–4-1-2 with Brittain on the right of the back three while Styles and Quina were wing-backs and Bassi just behind the front two of Woodrow and Morris.

The Reds came close to a leveller in the 49th minute when Woodrow’s excellent pass found Styles who beat one defender in the box but saw his shot blocked by another then it rolled to Morris who was denied from close range by Cornell. The follow-up corner was turned towards his own goal by a defender but cleared off the line by another.

Posh could have gone 2-0 up when Kwame Poku played in Szmodics in the box but Walton just got there ahead of him.

Woodrow almost levelled when Bassi played a clever low free-kick to him from the right wing but his 12-yard shot through a crowd of bodies was straight at Cornell.

It was 2-0 on 76 minutes when Jack Taylor headed Harrison Burrows’ left-wing corner into the bottom right corner.

Morris missed golden chance for 2-1 on 83 minutes when Ronnie Edwards inexplicably headed a Brittain cross straight to him but, after beating a defender, he blazed over from five yards out with a corner given for a touch by the goalkeeper.

Barnsley (4-2-3-1): Walton, mark out of ten: 7; Brittain 7, Andersen 7, Kitching 7, Vita 6 (Woodrow HT, 7); Gomes 5, Palmer 5 (Wolfe 77mins); Styles 5 (Adeboyejo 80), Bassi 7, Quina 6; Morris 6. Unused: Jinadu, Iseka, Moon, Hondermarck.

Peterborough (3-5-2): Cornell; Edwards, Kent, Knight; Ward (Poku HT), Taylor, Fuchs, Szmodics, Burrows; Clarke-Harris, Marriott (Jade-Jones 65). Unused: Blackmore, Beevers, Brown, Poku, Mumba, Randall.

Yellow cards: Poku, Marriott. Goals: Marriott 25, Taylor 75.