Luton Town 1-0 Reading: Royals beaten by bizarre goal as Hatters qualify for play-offs

READING FC’s championship campaign concluded with defeat as Luton Town confirmed their place in the play-offs.

The only goal of the game, which came in first-half stoppage time, came in strange circumstances when goalkeeper Orjan Nyland rolled the ball out only to have the ball stolen by Harry Cornick who tapped it into the empty net with the keeper unaware of his presence.

The Royals finish the season in 21st in what could be interim manager Paul Ince’s final game in charge as he is set to decide his future at the club in the next week.

Tom Holmes returned to the Reading line-up, while Danny Drinkwater dropped out with injury which saw Tom McIntyre pushed into midfield. There was a start for Yakou Meite as Tom Ince and top scorer John Swift missed out with injuries.

With the hosts pushing to confirm their place in the play-offs, they came out of the traps in search of an early goal.

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Defensive issues have plagued the Royals all season and should have been behind inside 30 seconds when Josh Laurent had his pocket picked in the middle.

That led to Cameron Jerome being played in on goal on the left, but Royals keeper Orjan Nyland got down low to make a vital save as the forward tried to place the ball in the bottom corner.

It was all Luton in the opening 15 minutes which kept Nyland busy in between the sticks.

Jerome nodded the ball down for Allan Campbell who took a swipe on the half volley just outside the box but blazed his effort high over the target.

The early chances kept coming for the Hatters when Campbell drifted away from Tom Holmes at the back post only to have his header comfortably caught by Nyland.

A dangerous free-kick from Luton saw Sonny Bradley find space at the back post as Nyland was called into action once again to stop his goalbound header.

Reading’s first promising venture forward saw Ovie Ejaria work his way into the box and he blasted a shot towards goal on his left foot that was parried out by Matt Ingram.

Luton had a golden chance to test Nyland when they were awarded a free-kick from 20 yards, but James Bree hit a harmless attempt wide of the post.

Baba Rahman was the first player to go into the referee’s notebook after he tripped Campbell’s attempt at starting an attack on the halfway line.

It looked as if Reading would get into half-time unscaved, but Luton opened the scoring in stoppage time with the most bizarre of goals.

Nyland rolled the ball out in front of him, not knowing that Luton’s Harry Cornick was lurking behind him and he snatched the ball and tapped it into the empty net to put his team in front going into the break.

Reading’s Championship survival saw them set a new record as the team with the lowest ever points total to avoid relegation after finishing in 21st with 41 points.

Luton came out all guns blazing in search of doubling their advantage and came a fraction away from doing so when Jerome cut inside in the box, unleashed a fierce effort on goal that was magnificently tipped onto the crossbar by Nyland.

The Royals created their first chance of the half in the 62nd minute when Josh Laurent’s floated cross was met by Michael Morrison who tried to squeeze it in at the far post but was denied by Ingram.

Another chance dropped for Morrison following a corner but Brafdley got his body in the way to block his powerful strike.

Paul Ince’s first change came in the 74th minute as Meite was replaced by 18-year-old winger Rashawn Scott for his first-team debut.

With little over 10 minutes to play, Tom Dele-Bashiru took the place of Junior Hoilett.

Tom Holmes was forced off with injury late on and replaced by Kelvin Abrefa.

Lucas Joao should have made more of a chance in the 87th minute when Laurent drove into the box and cut the ball back for the forward, but he lost control after trying to spin away from his marker.

But the visitors were unable to grab a leveller as their season ended with three consecutive defeats.