Reading 0-2 Leeds United: Luke Murphy and Sam Byram strike to seal a valuable three points for Neil Redfearn's side
Mail 10/2/15By ADAM SHERGOLD AT THE MADEJSKI STADIUM
Luke Murphy and Sam Byram fired Leeds United to a crucial victory at Reading that boosts their chances of staying in the Championship.
Murphy opened the scoring at the Madejski Stadium just after the hour when his shot from 25 yards bounced in despite a strong hand from goalkeeper Adam Federici.
And Byram made sure in stoppage time when he headed in Steve Morison’s cross at the back post, sparking jubilant scenes in the away end.
The three points will come as a blessed relief for manager Neil Redfearn and his team, who have been sucked into the relegation dogfight amid their off-field troubles.
They started the night just five points above the drop zone and knew defeat wasn’t really an option against Steve Clarke’s men, who saw their play-off hopes all but killed off by this result.
The hosts made two changes from the team that won 2-1 at Wolves on Saturday, a result that extended their recent run to just one loss in nine games in all competitions. Hal Robson-Kanu and Simon Cox made way for Oliver Norwood and Nick Blackman, while Deadline Day arrival Yakubu once again started on the bench.
The visitors made three changes from the side that lost 1-0 to Brentford at Elland Road, with Giuseppe Bellusci, Tomasso Bianchi and Alex Mowatt replacing Liam Cooper, Rudy Austin and Billy Sharp.
The opening was disjointed, neither side finding any rhythm or looking capable of carving out a threatening opportunity. It took 18 minutes for either to even have a sniff of goal, when Reading captain Alex Pearce hacked clear after Steve Morison tried to find Alex Mowatt with a cut-back.
Reading slowly roused from their slumber, with Blackman bursting down the left only to be denied by a last-ditch tackle from Giuseppe Bellusci. From the resulting Norwood corner, Pearce headed well over.
The best chance of the half fell to Leeds on 36 minutes. After Norwood sloppily gave the ball away in midfield, Casper Sloth, a replacement for the injured Tomasso Bianchi, led a counter-thrust.
He shifted the ball wide right to the eager Lewis Cook, who had the presence of mind to square to Morison. Cutting inside, the forward curled his effort onto the post with goalkeeper Adam Federici beaten.
Reading came close shortly after the break when Michael Hector forced Marco Silvestri into a save with his legs at the near post from a Jordan Obita corner.
Having fallen behind to Murphy’s strike, which Federici will be disappointed not to have kept out, Reading threw on Yakubu and Cox as they chased an equaliser.
It nearly arrived with a quarter-hour to play. Danny Williams was played through on the right-hand side of the box but Silvestri did well to block with his legs.
But they didn’t threaten again and it was left to Byram to round off a Leeds break and make sure of the points.