Goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak and Nathaniel Chalobah were enough as Reading beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 at the Madejski Stadium this afternoon.
Garath McCleary, who had been recalled to the Reading side, went close when he cut inside and forced Keiren Westwood into a save early on.
In what was a lively opening few minutes, Adam Federici then had to be alert to thwart Chris Maguire's effort, moments after Simon Cox's strike was blocked at the other end.
McCleary was at it against on 15 minutes, but this time his strike flew just wide of the post before Liam Palmer's attempt was comfortably gathered.
The home side finally made the breakthrough when Stephen Kelly crossed to Pogrebnyak and the powerful frontman headed home shortly before the half-hour mark.
Cox almost extended their advantage shortly after, but the striker was off balance as he hooked his shot wide.
Chalobah then made it 2-0 five minutes before the break as he steered home a cross from the right to make the most of Reading's pressure.
The Royals were handed the chance to make it 3-0 after the break when Pogrebnyak was fouled inside the penalty area.
However, Hal Robson-Kanu's spot kick was saved by Westwood, and Wednesday had a great chance to reduce the deficit through Jacques Maghoma.
However, the midfielder could only slice the ball wide after losing his balance when rounding Federici, allowing Reading to comfortably hang on.
Paul Gorst
