Match ends, Reading 1, Burton Albion 2.
Reading 1-2 Burton Albion
- From the section Championship
Tom Flanagan's first goal in over five years and a freak Tom Naylor winner gave Burton three points at Reading to lift them out of the relegation zone.
The Brewers went in front when Flanagan scored from Lucas Akins' long throw, only the sixth goal of his career.
Modou Barrow equalised for Reading 14 minutes from time when he latched onto Liam Kelly's cross.
But Naylor charged down Liam Moore's clearance and the ball bounced in as fortune favoured Nigel Clough's side.
The victory not only gave Burton their first back-to-back wins of the campaign, but the draw between Sunderland and Birmingham meant they climbed out of the bottom three.
Reading, meanwhile, are 14th following a second straight defeat.
A fairly uneventful first half appeared to be ending goalless until five minutes before the break, when Flanagan poked in to end a personal goal drought stretching back to October 2012.
Sone Aluko had narrowly fired wide before Reading levelled through Barrow, but one of the more unusual goals of the Championship season gave Burton the points.
Reading manager Jaap Stam said:
"After conceding two goals like that, it's frustrating. But to be honest, in how we played today, that's one of our worst games since I've been here.
"Quality on the ball, touches on the ball, choices - all basically wrong. Maybe it was because we wanted it too much.
"We made the wrong choices and did things too quickly."
Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough:
"When you concede an equaliser and Reading are pushing for the winner, that's when your character shows up.
"Although the winning goal was a bit fortunate, I think that we deserved it over the course of the game.
"We would have been happy with a point before the match but the way the game went, we'd have been disappointed with that.
Line-ups
Reading
- 1Mannone
- 19Bacuna
- 5McShane
- 6Moore
- 2Gunter
- 16EdwardsSubstituted forSwiftat 61'minutes
- 4van den Berg
- 38KellySubstituted forBödvarssonat 81'minutes
- 14Aluko
- 18Kermorgant
- 17Barrow
Substitutes
- 10Swift
- 12McCleary
- 20Ilori
- 22Clement
- 23Bödvarsson
- 24Blackett
- 31Jaakkola
Burton
- 1Bywater
- 10Akins
- 2Brayford
- 23Buxton
- 6Turner
- 12Flanagan
- 18MillerSubstituted forAllenat 68'minutes
- 15Naylor
- 7MurphyBooked at 55minsSubstituted forMcFadzeanat 89'minutes
- 11Dyer
- 17SordellSubstituted forScannellat 84'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Allen
- 5McFadzean
- 9Scannell
- 19Palmer
- 21Akpan
- 24Campbell
- 26Sbarra
- Referee:
- John Brooks
- Attendance:
- 21,771
Match Stats
Home TeamReadingAway TeamBurton
- Possession
- Home76%
- Away24%
- Shots
- Home7
- Away7
- Shots on Target
- Home2
- Away3
- Corners
- Home3
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home6
- Away4
Live Text
Full Time
Second Half ends, Reading 1, Burton Albion 2.
Corner, Burton Albion. Conceded by Leandro Bacuna.
Foul by John Swift (Reading).
Tom Naylor (Burton Albion) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Substitution
Substitution, Burton Albion. Kyle McFadzean replaces Luke Murphy.
Offside, Reading. Vito Mannone tries a through ball, but Modou Barrow is caught offside.
Attempt blocked. Liam Moore (Reading) header from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Sone Aluko with a cross.
Corner, Reading. Conceded by Ben Turner.
Substitution
Substitution, Burton Albion. Sean Scannell replaces Marvin Sordell.
Substitution
Substitution, Reading. Jón Dadi Bödvarsson replaces Liam Kelly.
Goal!
Goal! Reading 1, Burton Albion 2. Tom Naylor (Burton Albion) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom right corner.
Goal!
Goal! Reading 1, Burton Albion 1. Modou Barrow (Reading) left footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner.
Foul by Modou Barrow (Reading).
Luke Murphy (Burton Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt blocked. Luke Murphy (Burton Albion) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Lloyd Dyer.
Substitution
Substitution, Burton Albion. Jamie Allen replaces Will Miller.
Attempt missed. Sone Aluko (Reading) left footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Joey van den Berg.
Paul McShane (Reading) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ben Turner (Burton Albion).
Corner, Burton Albion. Conceded by Joey van den Berg.
Substitution
Substitution, Reading. John Swift replaces David Edwards.
Foul by Joey van den Berg (Reading).
Marvin Sordell (Burton Albion) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt blocked. Modou Barrow (Reading) left footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
Booking
Luke Murphy (Burton Albion) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Modou Barrow (Reading) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Luke Murphy (Burton Albion).
Attempt blocked. Will Miller (Burton Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Lloyd Dyer.
Attempt missed. David Edwards (Reading) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Chris Gunter with a cross.
Attempt missed. Lloyd Dyer (Burton Albion) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Lucas Akins with a cross.
Foul by Joey van den Berg (Reading).
Tom Naylor (Burton Albion) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Second Half
Second Half begins Reading 0, Burton Albion 1.
Half Time
First Half ends, Reading 0, Burton Albion 1.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match Tom Flanagan (Burton Albion) because of an injury.
Corner, Reading. Conceded by Tom Flanagan.
Corner, Reading. Conceded by Ben Turner.
Goal!
Goal! Reading 0, Burton Albion 1. Tom Flanagan (Burton Albion) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Lucas Akins.
