Reading got back to winning ways at the New York Stadium after Michael Morrison’s first-half goal proved to be decisive to take three points against Rotherham United.
Morrison latched onto his initially saved header to put the Royals in front in the 26th minute. The Royals had chances to extend their lead but managed to keep Rotherham at bay to collect their 14th clean sheet of the Championship season.
The win puts Reading back up to fifth in the table after they were overtaken earlier in the day by Bournemouth.
Veljko Paunović made two changes to the Reading side that suffered a shock defeat at Wycombe on Tuesday, as Omar Richards and Andy Yiadom replaced Tom McIntyre and Tom Holmes.
The hosts had the first chance of the match, just three minutes in when the ball was swung into the back post and was met by Rotherham’s top scorer Matt Smith, but he ailed to capitalise on an early opportunity as he headed over the target.
After an early scare, Reading began to take better care of the ball and had more possession.
Ovie Ejaria was swarmed by two Rotherham defenders but still managed to win a corner. The aftermath fell to Omar Richards who hit a shot towards goal and forced a save from goalkeeper Viktor Johansson who parried the ball away for another corner.
There was a let-off again for Reading in the 16th minute when a cross was hooked into the box and met by Ladapo whose header was just a few inches too high and scraped the top of the crossbar.
The Royals were pressing for an opener and got forward with a swift move forward from Michael Olise and Lucas João, but Ejaria couldn’t break the lock of the Rotherham defence as the final pass went astray.
A clearance from MacDonald almost saw Andy Yiadom score with what would have been a bizarre goal as the ball smacked the Reading full-back and flew just wide of the far post.
Michael Morrison put Reading in front in the 26th minute as he notched his fourth goal of the season.
Richards sent in an inviting cross to the back post which was met by the Royals defender, and he reacted quickest after his initial header was saved but spilled by the keeper as he stabbed the ball home on the rebound.
João had a sight of goal just before the half-hour mark when Reading skipper Liam Moore played a superb ball into the forward, but he was let down by his poor first touch as he failed to get a shot away.
Reading should have doubled their lead with the last action of the first-half. Ejaria put the ball across the face of goal as the Milers failed to clear properly, but were relieved to see Alfa Semedo’s shot strike the outside of the post and go out of play from an acute angle.
Just a minute after the restart, the Millers thought they had pulled themselves level only to be denied by the linesman’s flag.
Smith smacked the ball into the bottom corner but had strayed offside as the ball was played into his path.
Olise slid the ball through to Joao who looked to double the lead as he sprinted towards goal, and he tried to catch Johansson who had rushed off his line, but he scuffed his effort after trying to chip the ball over the keeper which fell safely into the Rotherham keeper’s arms.
The game turned into a scrappy affair for much of the second-half as Reading held their opponents at arms length as they looked to preserve their lead and earn a much needed three points.
Morrison was continuing to have an impact in both boxes and threw his body in the way of Ladapo’s shot, which ricocheted into the path of Lewis Wing, but he fired a strike well over the bar.
Paunović made his first change with 15 minutes to go as Tom McIntyre entered the play in place of Ejaria to try and provide more stability at the back and hold onto the one-goal lead.
Paunović was forced into a late change as Rinomhota went off with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Tomas Esteves.
There was s scare late in stoppage time as Rotherham piled on the pressure to find an equaliser, but Ben Wiles’ shot took a cruel deflection but flew agonisingly wide of the post.
The Millers were unable to penetrate the Royals’ defence and ended the game with just one shot on target at Rafael Cabral’s goal, despite having 15 attempts in total.
Reading will be keen to string a succession of wins together after ending a winless run when they host Blackburn Rovers at the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday evening (8pm kick-off).
Rotherham United: Johansson, S MacDonald, Wing, Lapado, Robetson, Harding, A MacDonald, Olosunde, Smith, Crooks (c), Giles
Subs: Blackman, Clarke, Wiles, Barlaser, Jozefzoon, Sadlier, Hirst
Reading: Rafael, Yiadom, Morrison, Moore (c), Richards, Laurent, Rinomhota, Semedo, Ejaria, Olise, Joao
Subs: Southwood, Esteves, McIntyre, Holmes, Tetek, Camara, Aluko, Baldock, Puscas
Goals: Morrison 26′
