READING FC’s troubling run of form continued after they were defeated at Vicarage Road by Watford.
Joao Pedro put the Hornets in front when he converted from the penalty spot after being hauled down in the box by Ovie Ejaria.
The Brazilian forward then netted his second of the night late in the day to wrap up victory for the hosts.
The Royals have endured a terrible run of form that has seen them win just once in their last nine Championship matches.
Reading have dropped down to 13th in the Championship table.
With the busy fixture scheduling taking its toll, Paul Ince made five changes from Reading’s 2-1 home defeat to Preston North End on Friday.
Amadou Mbengue returned to the back line alongside Sam Hutchinson who had missed six games out with a calf injury.
Tyrese Fornah was given the nod in central midfield, while Ovie Ejaria and Lucas Joao also came into the starting eleven.
The Hornets had an early sight of goal after Sam Hutchinson conceded a free-kick within striking distance.
Ken Sema’s shot struck the wall before the rebound sat up for him but he blazed it high and wide.
Watford were awarded a penalty with 15 minutes on the clock after a moment of madness from Ovie Ejaria in the box.
After Reading failed to scramble the ball clear from a corner, Ejaria brought down Watford forward Joao Pedro by the neck, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the penalty spot.
Pedro took the resulting spot kick and stroked it confidently into the bottom right corner.
Reading’s first venture forward saw Fornah get down the left and he tried to cut the ball back for Lucas Joao, but William Troost-Ekong was in the way to clear.
The Royals would have found themselves two goals down had it not been for a superb piece of goalkeeping from Joe Lumley.
The ball dropped invitingly for Keinan Davis from just eight yards out and Lumley sprung into action with lightning fast reactions to keep the ball out before he slid the ball away from Pedro to prevent him latching onto the rebound, injuring his foot in the process.
Joao was a whisker away from making contact with Ejaria’s driven cross before Tom Ince failed to get a shot away in the box.
Having initially carried on after getting treatment, Lumley was unable to continue and was subbed off for Dean Bouzanis in the 31st minute.
Baba Rahman showed strong attacking intent when he skipped past a challenge and was hacked down by Yaser Apsrilla just outside of the box which saw the Watford player pick up a card.
From the resulting free-kick, Fornah wasted a good opportunity as he over cooked his delivery which went out for a goal kick.
Ejaria was next to go in the referee’s notebook after he put in a poorly timed challenge on Pedro.
A well worked free-kick routine resulted in a half chance when Jeff Hendrick rushed his shot that flew wide after Ince found him free at the back post.
Amadou Mbengue made up for Tom Holmes’ error in possession as he raced across quickly to put in a vital tackle on Ismaila Sarr who looked to be through on goal as Watford went into the break a goal to the good.
Watford looked to hurt Reading early in the second-half through Asprilla who breezed past Rahman, but Hutchinosn was there to cover for his teammate and put the ball out for a corner.
The Royals grew into the half in search of an equaliser and came close when Ince stood a ball up to the back post that was met by the head of Ejaria, but was blocked by Troost-Ekong.
With just over an hour gone, Hutchinson was replaced by Mamadou Loum.
Bouzanis had to stay alert to push away Pedro’s low shot after he worked space outside the box to unleash a strike.
Rahman picked up a yellow card after he stopped Sarr using his blistering pace on the break by tugging his shirt.
Reading looked for a response and were awarded a free-kick out wide on the left. They tried a set-piece routine as Fornah rolled the ball for Ince to hit on his left, but his effort drifted over the target.
Watford almost doubled their lead with 10 minutes to go when Pedro let fly from just inside the box and after taking a deflection, his shot went narrowly wide of the post and behind for a corner.
Ince made more changes in hope of rescuing a result as Ejaria and Joao were replaced by Yakou Meite and Andy Carroll.
But it was Watford who took the initiative and finished proceedings with a second goal in the 87th minute when Pedro was in the right place to blast the ball past Bouzanis.
Reading are on the road again this weekend when they face Hull City in their final match before the World Cup break.
Watford: Bachmann, Gosling, Troost-Ekong, Kabasele, Sema, Choudhury, Kayembe, Asprilla, Pedro, Sarr, Davis
Subs: Gaspar, Cathcart, Bayo, Dele-Bashiru, Kalu, Okoye, Morris
Reading: Lumley, Mbengue, Holmes, Hutchinson, Yiadom, Rahman, Hendrick, Fornah, Ince, Ejaira, Joao
Subs: Carroll, Long, Meite, Guinness-Walker, Bouzanis, Loum, Hoilett
Goals: Joao Pedro 15’ (pen), 87’
