Reading FC claimed victory in a hard-fought 1-0 win away at Millwall on Saturday afternoon.
Naby Sarr’s debut goal was enough to decide a stop-start encounter against Millwall.
Paul Ince made three changes to the side who defeated Middlesbrough, with Joe Lumley, Lucas Joao and Sarr entering the fray.
With neither Junior Hoilett nor Nesta Guinness-Walker starting, Tom McIntyre took up the mantle at left-wing back.
The week of training didn’t seem to benefit either side in the opening exchanges, but debutant Sarr set the tone, making a handful of defensive interventions.
The Frenchman stopped an early cross from making it into the box then cleared a dangerous Benik Afobe cross.
Nevertheless, it was the home side who had the first sight at goal, with George Saville’s inviting cross from the left glanced towards the near post by Tom Bradshaw, but Lumley was able to gather.
Both teams struggled to find rhythm with meaningful chances few and far between.
With just under a quarter of an hour gone, Hutchinson sprayed a cross-field ball out to McIntyre on the left, who was brought down, winning a free-kick in a promising position.
Reading fans have become accustomed to quality deliveries from Tom Ince, and were not to be disappointed on this occasion. The winger’s left footed outswinger found the head of Hutchinson, who flicked on for Sarr to head home.
Millwall were determined to respond quickly. George Honeyman had the chance to deliver a set piece from the right, but Bradshaw could only head over from 12 yards out.
The remainder of the first half was largely played in the middle third. The few times the ball entered threatening areas, both sides’ defence were able to snuff out the danger.
On the 38th minute mark, a commotion in the Dockers Stand helped bring attention to a fan who needed medical attention.
The match paused for a few minutes as medical staff attended to the individual, before the referee deemed it safe to restart.
Millwall finished the half the stronger of the two sides, with Bradshaw carving out chances, albeit with little end product.
Coming out from the break, Reading fashioned arguably the best chance of the match.
Picking up a loose ball, Paul Ince’s men wasted no time getting forward. Good interplay between Lucas Joao and Ince saw the ball break to Jeff Hendrick, who found himself one-on-one with Bialkowski, but the Irishman’s effort was straight at the keeper.
Millwall thought they had equalised moments later, only for Cooper’s headed effort to get chalked off by the linesman.
The Lions’ new signing Andreas Voglsammer created an opening after wriggling past Sarr, but Hutchinson made a last ditch tackle to deny the German from six yards out.
As the game entered the final knockings, a miscontrol by Holmes saw Afobe bear down on goal, with Hutchinson forced to cover both ball carrier and runner. The Millwall forward finally got a shot away but Sarr was on hand to block.
The Royals had a second chance to seal victory when Hendrick released Long, who only had the keeper to beat, but his shot trickled past the wrong side of the post.
It was all hands on deck for the remainder of the match, with Millwall hitting the post off a deflected McNamara cross. A despairing Lumley could only watch as the ball sailed over his head, breathing a sigh of relief as the ball eventually came off the woodwork.
Reading were able to negotiate the seven minutes of stoppage time to claim their first win at The Den since 2014.
The 1392-strong travelling support headed back down the M4 ecstatic as their team sits atop the Championship table.
