READING FC suffered a Carrow Road nightmare with a 7-1 hammering against Norwich City.

It was Royals' heaviest defeat under Jaap Stam after a woeful performance against the mid-table Canaries.

The visitors were blown away in the opening 45, were 6-1 down at the break and were probably praying the ground would swallow them up.

At that point a cricket score looked likely, but the second half was more even, Norwich happy to put their feet up and admire their superb first-half efforts before Cameron Jerome netted a late seventh.

Of course, by that stage the damage had already been done as Norwich continued their unbeaten home record in 2017 in brutal style.

As for Reading, who knows if this drubbing will cause any long-term damage. But conceding seven in the league for the first time in a decade will do little to boost confidence for the Championship run-in.

And to think Reading went to East Anglia on the back of a three straight victories including wins against promotion-rivals Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday.

Norwich, however, had lost their previous two at Huddersfield and Aston Villa, but they are a diferent prospect on their home patch.

Royals got off to their worst possible start when Chris Gunter conceded a penalty in the first minute and Nelson Oliveira conveted a minute later.

When Wes Hoolahan added a second in the 15th minute the floodgates quickly opened as Alex Pritchard scored twice and Russell Martin once in a 10 minute burst for a 5-0 lead with 35 minutes gone.

Yann Kermorgant pulled one back with his 14th of the season three minutes later, but Hoolahan notched his second of the game four minutes before the break with Cameron's late seventh completing the embarrassing rout.

Stam made two changes from the side that beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Garath McCleary returned in place of Adrian Popa while Lewis Grabban came back to face his old club with Roy Beerens also dropping to a bench that included Danzell Gravenberch and youngster Tennai Watson.

Meanwhile, Norwich interim boss Alan Irvine changed more than half of the team that slumped to a 3-0 loss at promotion-rivals Huddersfield on Wednesday with six new personnel.

Norwich fans would have been relishing a home fixture after sucessive away defeats, and they were rewarded with a second-minute goal from the penalty spot.

Ali Al-Habsi did well to block Oliveira's shot only for Gunter to shove the Portuguese over as he chased the rebound.


Referee James Linington pointed to the spot, decided not to book Gunter, and Oliveira slammed the ball past Al-Habsi who guessed the right way.

It was a terrible start for the visitors who saw Yann Kermorant miss the target with a header from Garath McCleary's cross as they fought back.

But Irvine's men were a whisker away from doubling their lead in the 13th minute when an Oliveira curler from 25 yards skimmed the post with Al-Habsi well beaten.

It was only a brief reprieve as Reading conceded two minutes later after some comical defending.

Stam's men wasted several chances to clear Hoolahan's free-kick allowing the Canaries midfielder to jog into the area, pick up the ball and lift it over Al-Habsi from six yards.


Royals were struggling to get a foothold and, before they could settle down, they shipped three more goals in 10 disastrous minutes.

Hoolahan seized upon a poor touch from Jordon Mutch in the 25th minute and found Pritchard who capitalised on a favourable bounce by smashing a long-range screamer past a helpless Al-Habsi.

There was no letting up and Norwich kept dishing out the punishment.

They went 4-0 up in the 31st minute when Martin was fastest to react in the box after Al-Habsi had denied Oliveira.

That became 5-0 four minutes later, this time Norwich winning the second ball for the umpteenth time before Pritchard glided around Swift and arrowed a left-footed drive in the bottom corner from the top of the box.

It must have been horrific viewing for Stam, but there was a brief ray of light when Kermorgant pulled one back with 38 minutes gone.

Grabban's crisp header from Swift's cross was parried by John Ruddy, but Kermorgant was well placed to slot home from close range to continue his personal hot-streak.

Could it be the start of an incredible comeback? Sadly not and Norwich restored their five-goal cushion within three minutes.

Again, the tackling from the visitors was non-existent as Hoolahan stumbled his way into a shooting position, forced a save out of Al-Habsi and bundled home the loose ball.

Kermorgant did aim a header narrowly over from Swift's centre a minute before the break, but there was no hiding away from an embarrassing performance from Stam's men.

The second half was never going to match the first and Reading did threaten on 53 minutes when Ruddy tipped Swift's drive over the bar.

Back came Norwich with Jacob Murphy missing the target when he should have done better then Pritchard dragged one wide of the post.

Another drive from Swift rose a couple of inches over Ruddy's bar, but Royals needed two outstanding Al-Habsi saves to prevent a seventh.

The Oman stopper was at his very best when keeping out Josh Murphy's effort in the 80th minute before pulling off an even better one moments later to parry Timm Klose's header.

Norwich then saw Mitchell Dijks' free-kick smack against the crossbar before they finally netted for the seventh and final time in the 89th minute.

Royals were caught napping again as substitute Jerome waltzed forward and converted from six yards without so much as breaking sweat.

The misery finally came to an end a few minutes later leaving Stam's men to reflect on an East Anglian hammering and how to recover from it before next Saturday's trip to Aston Villa.

Norwich: Ruddy, Pinto, Martin (c), Klose, Dijks, Tettey, Howson, Ja. Murphy, Pritchard (Jo. Murphy 81), Hoolahan (Naismith 87), Oliveira (Jerome 87). Subs not used: McGovern, Whittaker, Wildschut, Bennett. Booked: Ja. Murphy 88.

Reading: Al-Habsi, Gunter (c), Blackett (Watson 61), Moore, Oxford, Swift (Gravenberch 81), Kelly, Mutch (Obita 52), McCleary, Grabban, Kermorgant. Subs not used: Jaakkola, Mendes, Williams, Popa. Booked: Moore 59, Obita 88.

Referee: James Linington.

Attendance: 26,163.