Former Golden Eaglets’ invitee, Ovie Ejaria opened the floodgates of goals for Reading and boosted his side’s surge to a 3-1 win against visiting Bristol City in the English Championship, megasportsarena.com reports.
Ejaria, who is on loan from Liverpool, was the catalyst for Reading, as the former English Premier League side ended their recent winless run and to get their promotion push back on track with a 3-1 win over Bristol City.
Thge Nigerian-born youngster was filled with sheer delight, as his side’s first win since October 27 moves them up to third on 26 points, with the Robins just behind in fourth ahead of the remainder of Saturday’s second-tier action.
An engaging, yet goalless, first half made way for an eventful second that got up and running when Ejaria tucked home after Lucas Joao’s lay-off (54), before Nahki Wells set up a tense finale at the Madejski Stadium with his fourth of the season (73).
Yakou Meite restored the Royals’ lead shortly afterwards (76), with Joao adding a third following a swift counter-attack to cap off an impressive afternoon deep into stoppage-time (90+2).
With three goals conceded in their last two home outings, Reading kept a compact shape throughout the first half which, despite largely being played at a pedestrian pace, produced an intriguing battle between two well-organised teams.
That was illustrated by the fact Bristol City failed to register a shot on target before the break, though at the opposite end of the pitch, their goalkeeper Daniel Bentley was forced to make several important saves,
He first punched an Ejaria cross behind with Meite lurking, before making a smart save to his right after the Ivory Coast international chested the ball down, swivelled and fired an acrobatic effort towards the left-hand corner.
The game exploded into life after the break and there was a real sense of relief from Veljko Paunovic on the touchline when Ejaria’s crept in via a deflection that wrong-footed Bentley, but the introduction of Wells paid dividends for the visitors when he plundered from close-range following a Callum Paterson free-kick.
Less than three minutes had elapsed when the hosts’ lead was restored following a slick, clinical break, after which another Nigerian-born lad, Michael Olise flicked a clever ball forward that Meite chased down before finding the bottom left corner with a low strike.
Joao then rounded off the victory in late on when he darted inside his marker, collected Meite’s square ball and then turned smartly to beat the unfortunate Bentley once more.
He was lively in a cagey first half, provided the equaliser for Ejaria’s opening goal and then deservedly added a goal of his own late on. If Reading’s promotion push is truly back on track after this game, the 27-year-old will play a crucial role going forward.
