READING progressed to the second round of the EFL Cup on Tuesday night courtesy of an outstanding 4-0 away win at Championship side Millwall.
The visitors took a surprising early lead, with Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan chipping the keeper in the very first minute of the contest.
The Reading Academy graduate doubled his tally shortly after the restart, poking home from close range, before a sumptuous direct free-kick from Charlie Savage and a scrambled Mamadi Camara goal put the tie to bed.
With Ruben Selles making eight changes to the eleven which started in Saturday’s defeat to Peterborough, even the staunchest of Royals would have struggled to make a case for their team against a Millwall side which went strong from the start.
Reading had not scored away from home since April, but needed less than a minute to break the deadlock on this occasion. Caylan Vickers did well to play in Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan inside the box and the forward duly converted, clipping the ball calmly over an onrushing Bartosz Bualkowski and into the back of the net.
With the home side reeling, Reading continued to look dangerous and should have doubled their lead after a well-worked counter attack saw the ball worked out to Vickers on the left. Bearing down on goal, the 18-year-old couldn’t compose himself and fired wide of the mark.
The early set-back, a series of 50:50 decisions against the home side and a prolonged injury break had The Den on edge, but the Royals’ youthful back line saw out the half, dealing with all comers in the box.
Femi Azeez and Charlie Savage entered the fray at half-time, and Azeez showed his intent immediately with a strong run through the middle of the pitch before firing just wide from range.
The Royals had fallen at the first hurdle in the Carabao Cup in each of the past three seasons, but looked determined to buck the trend as Ehibhatiomhan doubled his and his team’s tally in the 51st minute, poking the ball over the line after Vickers’ initial strike had squeezed under Bialkowski.
And things got even better for the visitors as Savage made it three, bending in a direct free-kick from 23 yards out just 16 minutes later after Ehibhatiomhan had done brilliantly to win it.
Camara completed the rout in the 88th minute, bundling the ball over the line with a mixture of his right foot and sheer determination.
The Royals will discover who their second round opponents will be on Wednesday night – the draw will follow Burton’s tie against Leicester City.
Millwall: Bialkowski, McNamara, Wallace, Hutchinson, Cooper, Mitchell, Bradshaw, Flemming, Leonard, Saville, Esse
Substitutes: Trueman, Evans, Nisbet, Bryan, Watmore, Voglsammer, Emakhu, De Norre, Harding
Reading: Boyce-Clarke, Mbengue, Carson, Abbey, Bindon, Rushesha, Wing, Camara, Knibbs, Vickers, Ehibhatiomhan
Substitutes: Bouzanis, Andresson, Dean, Savage, Azeez, Guinness-Walker, Senga, Tuma, Craig
