Reading bounced back from midweek disappointment to record a first win in five matches at home to Bristol City.

Mamadou Loum and Andy Carroll netted their first home goals in the second half to dispose of Nigel Pearson’s Robins.

As with any match when both sides set up with three central defenders, there was very little space for either side to exploit. The first half was one of very few chances, but plenty of endeavour. The majority of them fell to Reading. Within the first three minutes Yakou Meite saw a header glance wide from a Tom Ince cross after some good play by the attacker down the right. Jeff Hendrick had a chance to hit the ball on the half-volley shortly before the half hour mark, only for his effort to lack any power and drop into Max O’Leary’s arms comfortably.

With there little chance of threading balls over the Robins’ deep line, Loum tried his luck from distance, his shot skewing well wide of the goal in the end. The visitors’ best chance of the half fell to Antoine Semenyo, who fired a shot high over Joe Lumley’s crossbar in a melee following a free kick into Reading’s box. The atmosphere flattened and both sides saw out a scrappy first half without ever particularly testing either keepers.  

In contrast to the first period, both sides proved much stronger attacking threats as the fixture wore on. Within three minutes, Baba Rahman had sent a shot fizzing past the post from distance and five minutes later the deadlock was broken. A good passage of play lead to a succession of corners, and Ince found Loum from one, with the Senegal international sending a header flying into the back of the net. Moments later, away manager Nigel Pearson rolled the dice and brought on former Reading striker Chris Martin and last season’s top scorer Andreas Weimann. The Scotland and Austrian internationals linked up well just five minutes later to set up Mark Sykes, who’s effort from inside the box flew just wide of the goal.

Pushing hard in the final 15 minutes, the experience of Martin and Weimann made the visitors a much sterner prospect in the final stages. Clever work on the edge of the box left the former Aston Villa man through on goal, only for Amadou Mbengue to fly in and divert the ball for a corner at the last minute. Reading could’ve made the final few minutes more comfortable when Hendrick threaded Ince through on goal, only for O’Leary to make a smart save with his feet to preserve the advantage at one. Deep into stoppage time, they did just that as substitute Shane Long teed up fan favourite Carroll for his first SCL Stadium goal.

A much-needed win after three straight defeats, the Royals now face a tough run of fixtures which include trips to Burnley, Watford and Luton Town.