On the anniversary of Dai Yongge saying he’d sell the club, Reading made their fans proud with Sam Smith’s goal securing the three points.
A well battled performance reaped the rewards as the striker scored halfway through the second half to make it 1-0.
Late on keeper Joel Pereira became the hero as he made two crucial stops to deny a late surge from Bristol Rovers who were down to 10 men.
The Royals returned home after an exhilarating away win against Exeter City, starting the day off in 8th place in the league.
Ruben Selles opted to make three changes from that trip bringing in Sam Smith, Ben Elliott and Mamadi Camara as Reading looked to make it three wins on the bounce.
Charlie Savage, Chem Campbell and youngster Jayden Wareham dropped to the bench in return.
In the sides last meeting at The Memorial Stadium, Reading secured the three points in a 2-0 victory.
The visitors got us underway with both the 1871 section and the travelling fans in fine voice as Reading got their first chance of the game inside the first minute thanks to Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan.
There were light boos for Clinton Mola as he made his return to the Select Car Leasing stadium, however that was only from a smattering of fans.
It was an exciting first ten minutes from Reading as they burst past the physical Bristol block, winning a corner only for play to be paused as another ball entered play.
Rovers’ defender Connor Taylor let his anger burst out as he yelled at keeper Josh Griffiths for not coming out to collect a long ball, leading to chants of “He’s going to cry in a minute!”
In the 20th minute Ben Elliott won a dangerous freekick with Promise Omochere being booked in the process. Lewis Wing stepped up but fired the ball straight into the large Rovers wall.
The visitors had a narrow miss as Ruel Sotiriou fired a fast ball just past the far post after being played through on goal.
As the first half drew to a close, Reading ramped up the attacking moves with Sam Smith even scoring before the linesman raised his flag to signal an offside decision, much to the disappointment of the home fans.
It ended level at 0-0 with both sides having had their own respectable chances however Reading went in knowing they had to be more clinical in the second half.
The second half started off with controversy in the eyes of the visiting fans as referee Simon Mather awarded Reading a very delayed freekick as Rovers countered.
Ehibhatiomhan nearly opened the scoring as his shot from close range was blocked by Connor Taylor before the ball left play for a goal kick.
In the 55th minute, Shaq Forde received his marching orders as he received a second yellow card for clumsily kicking a ball away in anger at a freekick decision, sending his side to 10 men.
Jeers and whistles filled the stadium as Rovers’ goalkeeper Griffiths took his time taking every goal kick, with the card happy referee turning a blind eye.
Finally Reading found their way, Elliott lofted a ball perfectly to Sam Smith who tapped it past Griffiths to make it 1-0 in the 66th minute.
With ten minutes to go, amadou Mbengue made a vital block to deny Rovers a solid chance and send it out for a corner.
With calls of “You’re not fit to referee” from the away end, Rovers’ manager Matt Taylor received a yellow card for his reaction to a throw-in decision.
As the final few minutes clocked down, Joel Pereira was the hero, denying a long range shot from Clinton Mola before saving it off the line in the final play to give his side all three points and make it three wins from three games in League One.
Reading: Pereira, Elliott, Craig, Knibbs, Ehibhatiomhan, Smith, Bindon, Mbengue, Camara, Wing, Garcia.
Subs: Button, Savage, Campbell, Wareham, Holzman, Akande, Ahmed
Bristol Rovers: Griffiths, Moore, Wilson, Mola, Sinclair, Ward, Omochere, Sotiriou, Forde, Taylor, Conteh.
Subs: Thomas, Hutchinson, McCormick, Forbes, Bilongo, Lindsay, Hunt.
