Reading vs Stoke City. Sky Bet Championship.
Select Car Leasing StadiumAttendance12,292.
Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Reading and Stoke City at the Select Car Leasing Stadium as Lucas Joao scored either side of a Ben Wilmot equaliser to send Paul Ince's Royals back up to second
Sunday 4 September 2022 17:09, UK
Reading climbed back into the automatic promotion places and denied Alex Neil his first win as Stoke boss with a 2-1 victory at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Sunday.
The Royals took the lead after less than 120 seconds when Lucas Joao capitalised on poor defending to fire in his second of the season (2), but Stoke hit back before the break through Ben Wilmot's deflected effort (40).
Joao then restored the lead for the home side with a powerful penalty (57), to which the Potters could find no sufficient response.
Paul Ince's Reading climb back into second as a result of their fifth win of the season - and fourth straight victory on home soil - while Stoke continue to hover down in 19th, with eight points from eight games so far.
Before the game could even begin to settle into a rhythm in Berkshire, Reading had the ball in the back of the net.
Joao ghosted through the middle of two Stoke defenders and drew goalkeeper Jack Bonham inexplicably from the box, before firing a shot goalwards that Aden Flint swiped at and failed to prevent from crossing the line.
Stoke saw a lot more of the ball thereafter, but an organised Royals defence restricted them to shots from distance, with Joe Lumley holding onto hopeful efforts from Lewis Baker and Jacob Brown, while at the other end, Shane Long fired over from eight yards out.
Five minutes before the break, the Potters made the breakthrough when Flint cushioned a header that Wilmot seized upon and fired in via a deflection off Andy Yiadom.
But before the visitors - who looked somewhat refreshed after the break - could build upon that, they were pegged back for a second time when Joao rifled a penalty low into the bottom left corner after he had been fouled by Wilmot on the edge of the box.
As Stoke battled to try and get back on level terms for a second time, D'Margio Wright-Phillips and Nick Powell were among those introduced by Neil in an attempt to force the issue.
The game grew increasingly frantic, but every time the Potters attacked their efforts were rebuffed as Reading held on for victory.
Reading's Paul Ince: "It's just good to get a good performance. As I've said to the players, it's not about winning, it's about performing. We performed today. That's all you can ask for. You know with these players what they're like, the spirit and the togetherness. And when we came out for the second half, they were incredible in every department. That's so pleasing. With the first goal, it's about time we got a gift. It's about time we got something like that.
"We needed that because we looked a bit nervy at the start. That was unlike us because we normally start well at home. The goal settled us down and then we looked the team more likely to win the game. Shane Long should have scored to make it 2-0 and, for me, that would have been the game won. In the second half, we could have ended up 4-1 winners. There were a few chances that just wouldn't fall for us."
Stoke's Alex Neil: "Some things in football you just can't legislate for. We put a poor cross into their box, the goalie [Joe Lumley] collects it and punts it up the pitch. And from that point onwards it was just mistake after mistake. There's not much you can do. You just watch it and think: 'Wow'. For five minutes afterwards, you could see that that had affected us. It's a bad trait that we've had for some time now, I don't know whether it's lack of confidence or lack of belief. But after that, we started to move the ball a little bit better and get into better areas.
"Our quality of crosses wasn't great, though. Our movement in their box wasn't particularly great, either. And we didn't move the ball quick enough. When you do that, then it's going to be a difficult day. We'll just have to pick the bits out of the last two games. There's a lot of work to do."
Both teams are back in action at 3pm on Saturday September 10. Reading take on Watford at Vicarage Road, with Stoke welcoming Luton to the bet365 Stadium.
