Huddersfield Town 1-0 Reading
- Published
Rajiv van La Parra wasted a great chance to put Huddersfield ahead from the penalty spot in the first half
Huddersfield Town moved back to within four points of the automatic promotion places in the Championship as Philip Billing's late winner was enough to beat rivals Reading.
Billing grabbed the only goal when he reacted quickly to volley in from close range with eight minutes left.
Reading goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi saved a first-half penalty from Rajiv van La Parra to keep the scores level.
But home pressure told late on, with the Royals now four points behind Town.
Wins for Brighton on Saturday and Newcastle on Monday meant a draw would have seen both sides lose ground on the top two, and they appeared mindful of that in an entertaining and open first period.
The Terriers, who have now won 11 of their past 13 league matches, created the best chance when Izzy Brown was felled by Liam Moore, but Van La Parra's spot-kick was well saved.
Nahki Wells and Elias Kachunga also wasted good opportunities for the hosts.
Reading's best chance saw a Roy Beerens shot brilliantly pushed onto the bar by Danny Ward, who also made a couple of smart close-range stops to preserve his clean sheet.
Both goalkeepers made several important saves, including this fine block by Huddersfield's Danny Ward from Lewis Grabban
Huddersfield boss David Wagner:
"We have only had one penalty this season and we are not used to it!
"What concerned me was after we missed the penalty our body language was not good and for 10 minutes Reading were on top and Danny Ward kept us in it.
"We spoke about it at half-time and I told the players they could still go out and win it in the second half.
"Both teams had good chances but we had more and that's why we deserved the three points."
Reading boss Jaap Stam:
"I am very proud of what we have done. It's disappointing that we did not get at least a point.
"All the teams in the top six are playing each other and if we can keep winning we will get there.
"We have played against a good side in Huddersfield and there is not a lot of difference between two teams who want to play good football."