Reading scored a last minute equaliser to draw 4-4 with Swansea City at the SCL Stadium.

Lucas Joao gave Paul Ince’s side a third minute lead from the penalty spot but found themselves 4-1 down with half hour to remaining. Pulling two second half goals back the team, Tom McIntyre scored in stoppage time for the second time in three days to draw level.

Ince made  two changes from the late win over Sheffield United on Good Friday, with Tom Holmes and Ovie Ejaira dropping out for Tom Dele-Bashiru and Junior Hoilett.

The game kicked off in slow fashion, with the Swans dominating possession from the start, but it was the hosts who struck first when Josh Laurent was deemed to be fouled in the box within the opening three minutes. Referee Kevin Friend originally waved the appeals away, but his assistant flagged, and the spot kick was given. Joao made no mistake and sent the keeper the wrong way to give the hosts an early lead. Unfortunately, it did not last long, with Russell Martin’s men level within another three minutes. The ball was worked from right to left and midfielder Wolf curled a shot past the helpless Nyland to draw level. Piroe almost turned the game on its head immediately, latching onto the end of a long pass, only to lob the ball over both Nyland and the crossbar.

However, it would not take long for the Swans to take the lead when Piroe scored another long-range goal after a period of possession from back to front for the Welsh outfit. Reading fought their way back into the game as the half wore on, with Laurent going close, before being flagged for offside, and Junior Hoilett fired a strike onto the woodwork. It would remain close until stoppage time, when the visitors were awarded their first penalty for exactly one calendar year, for a foul on striker Michael Obafemi. Piroe made no mistake, and despite Nyland going the right way, comfortably dispatched the spot kick to give the Swans a commanding lead at the break.

The lead only grew immediately after the break, with Obafemi slotting past Nyland after poor defending, yet it was all Reading in the way of attacks for most of the half. The Royals brought it back to within two with half an hour to play when Ince tucked home a finish from a deep Hoilett cross at the back post.

With the atmosphere improving and belief soaring through the Royals veins, they made it 3-4 with 20 minutes to go as Joao scrambled the ball over the line from an Ince cut back, although it took a Tom McIntyre strike and an Andy Yiadom header to keep the ball in play.

While throwing men forward, Obafemi almost got his hattrick with 15 to play as the ball is slid to him inside the box, but he put his shot inches wide of the far post and let the hosts off. Despite huffing and puffing, Ince’s men just could not create the final chance, until the final minute when a Danny Drinkwater free kick was put in by McIntyre.

The draw leaves Reading leaves Reading on the cusp of survival in the Championship.