Last season’s form was turned on its head as Reading, quite unlucky not to be promoted in the playoffs, went down with scant resistance to a Queens Park Rangers team who had ended in lower league mediocrity.
And this despite QPR only adding one new player to their lineup in the shape of the unassuming midfielder Josh Scowen, who scored a late winner against his new side last season for Barnsley — from whom he arrived on a free transfer.
The home side nearly went ahead after two minutes when a badly misplaced pass from Tiago Ilori was swooped on by Jamie Mackie who passed the ball to Conor Washington, but the striker was frustrated by Vito Mannone’s fine save.
So great was QPR’s superiority in the first half that just one fine save was needed by Alex Smithies, from a Pelle Clement shot on the half-hour. The Dutchman and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, who helped Iceland humiliate England in last year’s European Championship, were newcomers to this largely pedestrian Reading team and it was no surprise when QPR went ahead on 22 minutes.
After good work by the lively Luke Freeman, Pawel Wszolek crossed accurately from the right and Washington beat Mannone with his close-range header. With QPR so dominant in midfield and Reading so unconvincing in defence, there should have been more home goals by half-time. Three minutes after the goal Freeman shot wastefully wide after being set up by Wszolek, then, in the 36th minute, Mackie found Massimo Luongo, whose shot rebounded from the right-hand post.
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Four minutes later a a wretchedly careless mistake by Liam Kelly left Washington free, only for him to shoot carelessly over the bar. So Reading, who could easily have been several goals down, came out for the second half only one goal behind.
They brought on the effective Modou Barrow, who had looked impressive for Swansea last season, shortly after the interval and a couple of minutes after his arrival he broke through to find John Swift, whose shot was blocked. Bodvarsson, following up, was frustrated by Smithies’ left-hand save, the goalkeeper knocking the ball up and catching it.
Just a couple of minutes later, Reading effectively lost hope when Ilori got himself sent off for a foul on Wszolek inside the box. Washington drove home the penalty and you expected Rangers to score more goals but instead, and perhaps it was the heat, they seemed to take their foot off the pedal and the match faded into stoppage time. Overall, QPR belied their form of last season, while Reading made you wonder why they had done so well.
Star man: Conor Washington (QPR)
Yellow cards: QPR: Lynch Reading: Bodvarsson, Barrow
Red card: Reading: Ilori
Referee: S Duncan
Attendance: 14,460