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READING FC kicked off the New Year with a defeat at the Hawthorns against an in-form West Bromwich Albion side.
After a dominant opening half an hour, the Baggies were unable to find a way past Joe Lumley but did eventually break the deadlock after an hour through Daryl Dike.
That proved to be the winning goal as the Royals couldn’t force their way back into the contest.
The result means Reading are in 12th place on 36 points from 26 games.
The Royals started the New Year with a tough test at the Hawthorns against a West Brom side in fine form.
Since Carlos Coberan arrived to take over from Steve Bruce, Albion have enjoyed a surge up the Championship table.
They have won seven of their last eight league fixtures to put them 11th and one point behind Reading prior to kick-off.
Paul Ince made three switches from the draw at Norwich which included a first start in nine months for Scott Dann, while Nesta Guiness-Walker was rewarded with a start after his impressive substitute appearance last week.
There was a familiar face in Albion’s starting eleven as former Royals player John Swift, who spent six seasons at Reading, was chosen to start having not featured in the reverse fixture.
The Baggies were determined to make a quick start and Reading had to withstand plenty of pressure in the opening half an hour with plenty of chances raining down on their goal.
Goalkeeper Joe Lumley made an expert one handed save to claw out Jayson Molumby’s shot after Jed Wallace cut the ball back moments after leaving Dann for dead in the build up.
West Brom were then denied by the post when a diving header from Townsend struck the upright before he forced another fine save from Lumley.
Reading continued to ride their luck when Matt Phillips’ sent an inviting cross into the box which Daryl Dike was inches away from making a connection to poking the home side in front.
The hosts continued to shift the ball around fluently to try and carve the Royals open again, but this time the experienced Dann stood up tall to block Dike’s strike.
Swift looked to get on the scoresheet against his former employers when he was given room to shift the ball onto his right and unleash a thunderous shot that didn’t quite dip in time to cause a problem for Lumley.
After a ropey opening 30 minutes, Reading managed to contain West Brom, keep the ball more efficiently and created one big opening of their own.
Yakou Meite’s persistence to bomb down the left saw him fire a ball across the face of goal and found Junior Hoilett who hit a goalbound effort that was hooked away by a defender as Reading almost snatched the lead against the run of play.
But after a blistering start to the game, West Brom were unable to nudge themselves in front as Ince’s men could count themselves fortunate to not be a couple of goals down at the break.
Tom McIntyre received the first booking of the game after bringing down Dike just outside the box.
With the free-kick well within Swift range, the midfielder curled a disappointing effort straight into the host of bodies in the wall.
Lumley was next to enter the referees notebook after he was penalised for time wasting in the 56th minute.
Ince’s first change, just before the hour mark, saw Hoilett replaced by Amadou Mbengue.
With an hour on the clock, West Brom finally made one of their chances count when Dike stooped low to divert Molumby’s cross into the corner to beat Lumley.
Needing to get back in the contest with less than 20 minutes left, Ince turned to the bench and brought on Lucas Joao, Shane Long and Baba Rahman for Carroll, Guinness-Walker and Meite.
The Baggies should have doubled their lead and sealed the game with 10 minutes to go.
Wallace sped past Mbengue before pushing the ball past an onrushing Lumley who left his goal unguarded, but Brandon Thomas-Asante couldn’t direct his header on target to kill the game.
Another attacking change by Ince saw Femi Azeez try to salvage a result in the final 10 minutes as he replaced Jeff Hendrick.
Reading threatened to find an equaliser when Joao found space in a tightly compacted box to strike with his left foot and win a corner via a deflection.
A golden chance to bring the game level fell for Rahman in the 86th minute after a flick on found his path and from just six yards out he headed over the top as Reading’s best chance of the half went begging.
Despite pushing throughout five minutes of added time, Reading couldn’t grasp a late leveller to take a point as West Brom collected all three points.
The Royals are in FA Cup action this weekend when they host fellow Championship Watford in the third-round.
West Brom: Palmer, Furlong, O’Shea, Pieters, Townsend, Molumby, Yokuslu, Wallace, Swift, Phillips, Dike
Subs: Button, Ajayi, Rogic, Diangana, Grant, Thomas-Asante, Gardner-Hickman
Reading: Lumley, Yiadom (c), Dann, McIntyre, Loum, Hoilett, Guinness-Walker, Hendrick, Ince, Carroll, Metie
Subs: Long, Joao, Rahman, Azeez, Bouzanis, Mbengue, Sarr
Goals: Dike 61’
