Will Hughes struck on his 150th start for Derby County as they fought back from a goal down to narrowly defeat fellow promotion-chasers Reading 3-2 at Pride Park Stadium.
The midfielder scored the vital third goal for Steve McClaren’s men, bending in his second goal of the campaign after finishes from Darren Bent and Tom Ince had cancelled out John Swift’s early opener.
Yakou Meite’s header with 10 minutes remaining set up a grandstand finish, but after Jordan Obita was given his marching orders deep into six minutes of added time, the Rams saw the contest out to ensure they returned to winning ways with a seventh win in nine on home soil.
The pulsating second 45 minutes came after Derby had overcome what was a new challenge to them posed by Reading, who spent longer spells of the early stages at Pride Park Stadium controlling the tempo of the contest.
The Royals arrived as the Championship’s possession kings - boasting the Championship’s best statistics when it came to having the ball – and it was no surprise that Jaap Stam’s side controlled the opening stages in that respect.
With the visitors in no real rush to force an issue and the Rams biding their time to pinch back possession, goalmouth action over the first 15 minutes was lacking.
The first shot, somewhat uncharacteristically, came from the visitors playing the long ball game. Obita launched the ball from back to front to Yann Kermorgant, he flicked the ball into the path of Garath McCleary and he drove his effort over.
Reverting quickly back to getting the ball on the deck, they opened the scoring shortly after. The chance articulately crafted, Liam Kelly was set free down the right. From there, the 21-year-old Republic of Ireland midfielder showed great balance to hold off his challengers, skip to the byline, and pull the ball back to Swift to tuck into the back of the net.
It was the first time McClaren had seen his side concede on home soil since returning to the club in October – bringing an end to eight straight clean sheets at Pride Park.
Before it got better for the hosts, they had to contend with a further frustrating 20 minutes of Reading holding a stranglehold of the game, bossing the possession as Derby struggled to get out of their own half.
The Royals very rarely threatened a second during this period. Danny Williams fired over, whilst McCleary was denied by a routine save by Carson.
The Rams, however, kept their necks above water and hauled themselves level against the run of play. It came after the visitors failed to fully clear a corner and after a ball had been played to the feet of Richard Keogh down the right, he took a touch and fizzed into the six-yard for Bent to convert.
That goal changed everything at the end of the half as Derby took the final 12 minutes of the half by the scruff of the neck, scrapping for every 50/50 and loose ball – leaving Reading a little rattled.
That continued into a feisty second half that had everything – three goals, a red card and a backs against the walls finish.
The Royals registered the first attempts on goal of a tame start to the second 45 minutes. Kermorgant, the 35-year-old Frenchman, saw his curling effort beaten away by Carson, whilst the Derby ‘keeper had to be alert to claim Liam Moore’s header from the resulting corner.
With the game on a knife edge, however, the Rams struck again and got themselves in front, Ince striking his tenth goal of the campaign from inside the area after being picked out by the diminutive Craig Bryson.
With momentum behind them, Derby went on to get the crucial third goal 11 minutes later – Hughes marking his 150th start for the club by sweeping in a low shot beyond Al-Habsi after Marcus Olsson initially saw an effort inside the area blocked.
It was crucial in the sense that Reading laid siege on Carson’s goal after that and set up a grandstand finish by reducing the deficit to one with 10 minutes to go as Meite, introduced as a substitute, rose unmarked to head a corner into the bottom corner.
After that, there were a few nervy moments along the way. Kelly was denied, brilliantly, by a last-gasp tackle from Johnny Russell inside the area, whilst McClaren felt obligated to shift his 4-3-3 formation to a 5-4-1 as the game neared its conclusion.
Reading threw everything at the backline, including the ‘keeper Al-Habsi, desperately searching for an equaliser, but after Obita was shown a second yellow card – the Rams saw the game out to claim a precious three points and close the gap on the Championship’s top six to just two points.
Derby County: Carson, Baird, Keogh (C), Pearce, Olsson; de Sart, Bryson (Christie, 87), Hughes; Ince, Russell (Shackell, 90), Bent (Vydra, 88)
Substitutes not used: Roos, Camara, Hanson, Vernam
Reading: Al-Habsi, Gunter, McShane (C), Swift (Samuel, 75), Obita, McCleary, Moore (Meite, 75), Kermorgant, Ilori, Williams, Kelly
Substitutes not used: Jaakkola, Van den Berg, Evans, Blackett, Watson
Attendance: 28,393 (838 away supporters)
