Reading slipped to 19th in the Championship table after a 2-2 draw with Leeds at Madejski Stadium
The Royals took the lead on 16 minutes through Jon Dadi Bodvarsson’s composed finish as the home side showed some real moments of quality during the first half.
Bodvarsson almost made it 2-0 when he latched onto a Mo Barrow cross, but goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell made the stop before George Evans’ rebound was brilliantly blocked.
Barrow then had a glorious opportunity to score as he nipped the ball off defender Laurens De Bock on the halfway line and burst towards goal, but Peacock-Farrell got down well to save.
And the misses proved costly as Leeds levelled against the run of play just before half-time when Pontus Jansson turned in from Adam Forshaw’s cross.
Just 10 minutes after the restart the comeback was complete when United pounced on a slack Liam Kelly pass to break forwards and score through a fine Pablo Hernandez strike.
Back came the hosts immediately with Sone Aluko, who set up the first goal, picking out Leandro Bacuna on the right and his powerful low effort was turned into his own net by Eunan O’Kane.
Leeds pushed hard for a late winner with Ezgjan Alioski denied by a superb low Anssi Jaakkola stop before the keeper was fortunate to see the ball hit the post when his clearance was charged down by Pierre-Michel Lasogga in the dying minutes.
The draw sees Reading drop to 19th but they are now a point further away from the bottom three.
“I think it was a deserved point,” said Stam.
“If you look at how we played in the first half, what we did was very promising at times.
“We scored a goal but also created another couple of very good opportunities, 100% chances where you need to score basically.
“If you can do that then it’s a totally different game.”
He added: “Of course we are still looking over our shoulders.
“We had a couple of draws in a row but we’re still looking to get that win.
“You can always say we’re due to get one, but you need to do it yourself. You need to take your opportunities and defend to not give the opposition the opportunities.”
READING: Jaakkola; Bacuna, Ilori, Moore, Gunter; Kelly; Aluko, Evans (Edwards 63), Clement (Swift 63), Barrow; Bodvarsson.
Subs not used: Mannone, Holmes, Blackett, Loader, Smith.
Goals: Bodvarsson (16), O’Kane (58) (OG)
Yellow cards: Evans (24), Kelly (31)
LEEDS: Peacock-Farrell; Berardi (c), Jansson, Pennington, De Bock; O’Kane, Forshaw; Alioski, Saiz, Hernandez (Dallas 85); Ekuban (Lasogga 77).
Subs not used: Wiedwald, Anita, Pearce, Phillips, Vieira.
Goals: Jansson (43), Hernandez (56)
Yellow cards: Pennington (48)
Referee: Scott Duncan
Attendance: 19,770 (inc. 3,467)
