Yakubu strike sinks Reading

Middlesbrough 2 Reading 1:Mark Viduka and Ayegbeni Yakubu combined to hand Reading a lesson in finishing and dent their European hopes.

Viduka's seventh-minute strike and a superb 69th-minute finish from Yakubu handed the Royals their first defeat in 10 Barclays Premiership games as Gareth Southgate gained revenge over former boss Steve Coppell for defeat in his first competitive game as a manager.

The Teessiders were in complete control before the break and were rarely troubled at the back, with England international Jonathan Woodgate once again outstanding.

Reading rallied in the second half and might have got themselves back into it had Leroy Lita not wasted a glorious opportunity and had Shane Long enjoyed a little better fortune.

Substitute John Oster's late goal proved little consolation.

Boro produced an opening 45 minutes of football as good as they have managed for some time to leave the Royals looking distinctly second best.

Viduka and Yakubu were simply too much of a handful for Ivar Ingimarsson and Michael Duberry, making his debut after an £800,000 move from Stoke.

The visitors started and finished the half brightly, Stephen Hunt forcing Mark Schwarzer into a first-minute save and then Long firing just wide at the death.

But in between, Schwarzer, who marked 10 years since his debut for the club this week, was a virtual spectator as the Teessiders dominated.

They were ahead within seven minutes when, after Emanuel Pogatetz had headed down Stewart Downing's free-kick, Viduka took a touch before back-heeling a shot past the stranded Marcus Hahnemann.

Long might have levelled a minute before the break, but missed the target, and Hahnemann had to make another save in injury-time to keep out Downing's curling free-kick.

There was little doubting the tenor of Coppell's half-time remarks, and they sparked an instant response as the visitors re-emerged in determined mood.

Lita, who had seen little of the ball before the break, should have done better after dispossessing Pogatetz within seconds of the restart, and then forced the excellent Woodgate and then Schwarzer to intervene after a run from the left.

Hahnemann gratefully clutched a Viduka piledriver to his midriff on 51 minutes, but the Teessiders had a let-off seconds later when Hunt squared for Lita, but he completely mishit his effort from 18 yards.

Yakubu curled a shot just wide on 56 minutes and then saw Hahnemann make an excellent save after he had been played in by Viduka.

But Pogatetz unwittingly blocked Long's goal-bound shot and then saw the striker clip the top of the bar with Schwarzer rooted to the spot as the Royals made their big push.

However, just as it looked as though the equaliser was imminent, Yakubu ran on to Viduka's pass and blasted a left foot shot into the roof of the net to effectively seal the win.

It was not until Southgate had handed South Korea international Dong Gook Lee a senior debut with five minutes to go that the visitors finally got their goal.

Oster's 87th-minute strike ensured a tense finish, but Lee almost capped the win with an injury-time volley which hit the post.