READING FC were on the end of back to back home defeats as they edged closer to the Championship relegation zone with a narrow loss to Millwall.
In a frustrating affair, the Royals conceded the only goal of the match 11 minutes in when Andreas Voglsammer emphatically scored from the penalty spot following Naby Sarr’s mistake and Joe Lumley’s subsequent foul.
But Reading were unable to work their way back into the match and didn’t manage a single shot on target.
The defeat leaves Reading in 16th on 44 points from 36 before an expected points deduction in the coming days.
Paul Ince named an unchanged team from Reading’s narrow defeat to Sheffield United in midweek as Tom McIntyre made his 100th appearance in the blue and white hoops.
The Millwall line-up also saw a Reading academy graduate in the starting eleven as Jake Cooper, who played more than 50 games for the Royals, took the armband for the Lions.
Ince’s men went into the contest in 16th but with the threat of an impending points deduction looming, while Gary Rowett’s side have their sights set on the play-offs and were one place outside the top six before kick-off.
Naby Sarr netted the only goal of the game when the team’s met in August which is just one of three Reading wins on the road this campaign.
The home team started in bright fashion and won some early free-kicks, the second of which coming after a storming run down the right from skipper Andy Yiadom.
But it was Millwall who almost profited from the resulting set-piece as they launched a counter attack that was smartly extinguished by Nesta Guinness-Walker.
It was a lapse in concentration from defender Sarr that allowed Millwall in as his wayward pass fell into the path of Zian Flemming. He sprinted in on goal and after Joe Lumley rushed off his line trying to make amends for his defenders mistake, he brought the midfielder down leaving the referee no choice but to award a penalty.
Andreas Voglsammer stepped up and confidently smacked the ball into the top left hand corner to give Lumley no choice of getting anywhere near it to put the visitors in front after 11 minutes.
After going behind, it turned into an infuriating half for the Royals with multiple stoppages throughout the opening 45 minutes which suited the away team.
Carroll tried to impose himself, but found himself on the deck on a few occasions for some robust aerial challenges from Cooper and Murray Wallace.
Reading ended the half without posing a clear threat and went into the break having had zero shots on target.
Clearly unsatisfied with his team’s work, Ince made a double change at the break as Liam Moore and Amadou Mbengue replaced Scott Dann and Yiadom.
After a lacklustre opening to the second-half, Ince made another double switch with half an hour left to play to try and ignite a fightback as Cesare Casadei and Lucas Joao took the place of Shane Long and Guinness-Walker.
Ince and Casadei tried to spark Reading into life on the front foot before Joao’s cross was dealt with by the resolute Millwall back line who looked determined to preserve their clean sheet.
The final Reading change of the day with little over 10 minutes remaining saw Femi Azeez replace McIntyre as the hosts looked to rescue a result.
Paul Ince’s frustrations got the better of him and he was shown a yellow card on the touchline by the referee.
Reading were unable to force any considerable pressure on Millwall and were left with their second home defeat on the bounce.
Next up for the Royals is a Wednesday night trip to face Blackburn Rovers.
Reading: Lumley, McIntyre, Sarr, Dann, Guinness-Walker, Holmes, Yiadom, Hendrick, Ince, Carroll, Long
Subs: Bouzanis, Joao, Azeez, Fornah, Casadei, Moore, Mbengue
Millwall: Long, McNamara, Wallace, Cooper (c), Bradshaw, Flemming, Cresswell, Leonard, Saville, Voglsammer, Honeyman
Subs: Bialkowski, Hutchinson, Burke, Malone, Shackleton, Watmore, Esse
Goals: Voglsammer 11’ (pen)
