Reading vs Coventry City. Sky Bet Championship.
Select Car Leasing StadiumAttendance22,692.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Reading and Coventry at the Select Car Leasing Stadium as Ian Maatsen scored the winner to punish the 10-man Royals after Junior Hoilett's red card
Saturday 12 February 2022 19:08, UK
Relegation-threatened Reading marked their 150th club anniversary with another Sky Bet Championship defeat as they were beaten 3-2 by Coventry at the SCL Stadium.
It was the Royals' seventh successive league loss and they ended the game with 10 men after the dismissal of winger Junior Hoilett.
Reading went ahead midway through the first half through a Lucas Joao header but Coventry equalised on the stroke of half-time through Dominic Hyam.
Michael Rose made it 2-1 to City shortly after half-time and, though Andy Yiadom levelled it at 2-2, the hosts had Hoilett sent off in the 63rd minute for a second yellow card.
Two minutes later, Ian Maatsen grabbed what proved to be the Coventry winner.
Founded in 1871, Reading had been due to mark their 150th year against Luton on December 18 - but the fixture was postponed after a Covid outbreak in the home camp.
Since then, they have failed to win - losing seven of their eight league and FA Cup fixtures.
About 200 Reading supporters protested outside the stadium before kick off, their anger aimed at manager Veljko Paunovic and Dai Yongge, the club's Chinese owner.
The fans chanted "We want Pauno out" and "We want our Reading back". And some displayed a banner that read: "150 years history but how many more?"
Coventry began at a frantic pace, with Gustavo Hamer and Maatsen both squandering early half-chances.
The visitors should have gone ahead soon after, when Callum O'Hare released Viktor Gyokeres on a quick break.
Coventry's 12-goal top scorer unleashed a fierce shot but home goalkeeper Karl Hein made an excellent one-handed save.
Reading gradually settled but Junior Hoilett's tame header, from a Tom Ince cross, barely troubled City 'keeper Simon Moore.
However, they were better rewarded in the 23rd minute when Hoilett slung over a precise cross from the left and Joao rose unchallenged to nod home from close range.
Reading almost doubled their lead, with John Swift and Ince going close through well-struck efforts from distance.
But Coventry levelled in the second minute of first-half stoppage time when Hyam, a former Reading academy product, drilled a low shot through a mass of bodies and past the unsighted Hein.
Two minutes into the second period, City were ahead. Hamer sent over a corner from the left and Rose nodded home easily.
Reading were back on terms eight minutes later, when an Ince corner from the right was bundled in by defender Yiadom.
But Hoilett was dismissed for two fouls in six minutes - on O'Hare and then Gyokeres - and Maatsen struck with a deflected attempt that looped in over the backtracking Hein.
Ten-man Reading tried to get back into it but Coventry held on to win with relative ease.
Reading's Veljko Paunovic: "The fans were fantastic today. We want to thank them for coming here in such a massive number. That was very helpful for the team, especially as the things developed later. I prefer to not to really comment on [the protest]. But the whole year has been difficult for the club.
"It has been very frustrating for the fans and we share that with them. But everyone has a right to express their opinion. We mustn't feel sorry for ourselves. We have to regroup and move forward."
Coventry's Mark Robins: "From our perspective, it was three points that we can be really happy with. Performance-wise, you could tell that we'd played 120 minutes against Southampton (in the FA Cup) last Saturday and then a tough game against Blackpool in midweek.
"This was another difficult game, more of an emotional game for Reading with a bigger crowd coming in. Their players responded, because their fans were behind them, and that gave them a lift."
