Yann Kermorgant's second-half penalty was enough to send Reading into the Championship playoff final after a 1-0 win over Fulham this evening.
© SilverHub
With the tie level after the first leg at Craven Cottage, the Royals settled well in the early stages with Kermorgant almost breaking the deadlock on 12 minutes, but his effort was stopped by Marcus Bettinelli, who reached low down to the right to palm the ball away.
However, Jaap Stam's side almost fell behind when Ryan Fredricks's low, left-footed strike was kept out by a combination of Ali Al-Habsi and the woodwork.
Fulham went close again before the half-hour mark after Tom Cairney's free kick was saved by Al-Habsi, before the Omani keeper recovered to thwart Sone Aluko from close range.
© SilverHub
Reading were awarded a penalty within minutes of the restart for a handball by Tomas Kalas. Kermorgant, who missed in a penalty shootout during the playoffs in 2010 with Leicester City, stepped up and calmly found the corner.
It perhaps should have been two within minutes when John Swift was left with the seemingly simple job of a tap-in from two yards out, but the midfielder somehow guided his shot into the grateful arms of Bettinelli.
Fulham threw players forward in search of an equaliser and almost got back on terms when Lucas Piazon's effort was blocked by Liam Moore.
The Cottagers continued to take risks with time running out, and went close again in the dying stages as Kevin McDonald's guided shot was tipped over by Al-Habsi.
Eventually, Reading's resilience saw them through to the final whistle and a place at Wembley, where they will play either Sheffield Wednesday or Huddersfield Town for a place in the Premier League.
Chris O'Keefe
