With Norwich City travelling to the Madejski Stadium for Wednesday’s game against Reading in the Sky Bet Championship, we’ve taken a look back at our previous visit.
Reading 1-2 Norwich City
September 19, 2018
Madejski Stadium
Sky Bet Championship
What was on the line?
In the opening seven league games of the season, Norwich had lost three, drawn two and won two, so it hadn’t been the best start to the campaign.
For Reading, it had been even more problematic. The Royals managed just two points from the opening five games, so both sides knew how important a win could be to getting the season going.
How the game unfolded
With only 14 minutes played, Teemu Pukki gave the Canaries the lead with an excellently controlled finish from Todd Cantwell’s precise assist.
City failed to increase their lead, however, and were forced to pay for it when Jon Dadi Bodvarsson equalised from close range with 18 minutes remaining.
But the Reading celebrations were short-lived, as Mario Vrancic put City 2-1 up with a low strike from distance one minute later.
This time, City held on, taking all three points back to Norfolk and the encouragement of another away win.
Norwich City XI: Krul, Aarons, Zimmermann, Klose, Lewis, Tettey, Leitner (Trybull 76’), Buendia (Vrancic 68’), Stiepermann (Rhodes 86’), Cantwell, Pukki
Unused substitutes: Godfrey, Passlack, Srbeny, Oxborough
What happened next?
City won two of the next four games, before putting a run of 12 games unbeaten together on the way to leading the Championship.
Reading’s season never really got going. They were unable to win any more than two games consecutively, ending the campaign in 20th.