Charlton 2-1 Reading
- Published
League One side Charlton pulled off a Carling Cup upset with a second-round victory over last season's Championship play-off finalists Reading.
Goals either side of the break from Paul Benson and Jason Euell put the home side in control at the Valley.
It was a nervous last 15 minutes for the home side though after Sean Morrison pulled one back for Reading.
Mathieu Manset also saw a shot cleared off the line for the visitors, but Charlton held on to progress.
It could have been a different story had Manset converted Jobi McAnuff's cross for the visitors, but Yado Mambo's vital touch prevented this being the case.
Not long after, Manset had another great chance to score but had his header scrambled off the line by Cedric Evina.
Reading were left to rue these misses when, in the 25th minute, Euell's flicked header was capitalised on by Benson, who beat Royals goalkeeper Alex McCarthy to the ball before firing home from close range.
The home side should have been two up five minutes later after Bradley Pritchard's lob beat Royals goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and looked certain to hit the back of the net until Shaun Cummings somehow got back to clear off the line.
However, in the 64th minute it was 2-0 when Euell was on hand to head home Simon Francis' cross.
Reading gave themselves a lifeline nine minutes later courtesy of Morrison's low drive that found the net through a crowd of players.
And they could have had an equaliser had Scott Wagstaff not been on hand to clear Manset's header off the line.
But the home side were able to repel any further Reading attacks and came close to adding a third when Ruben Bover Izquierdo went on a great run before unleashing a shot which beat McCarthy but hit the crossbar.