Wigan Athletic 1-3 Reading: George Puscas scores five-minute hat-trick in Royals' win
- Published
George Puscas doubled his league goal tally in just five minutes at Reading
George Puscas scored a stunning five-minute hat-trick to help Reading to a dramatic comeback win at Wigan.
The Royals trailed for much of the game after Joe Garner netted from close range despite Reading keeper Rafael Cabral keeping out his initial header from Anthony Pilkington's corner.
Puscas levelled from the penalty spot after Lucas Boye was brought down and, a minute later, drilled the Royals ahead with a fine finish after breaking into the box.
Garath McCleary then won possession high up the field and teed up Puscas to slam in and complete a remarkable hat-trick six minutes from full-time.
Wigan went into the fixture tied with Middlesbrough as the lowest scorers in the Championship with 16 goals, while Reading had struck just 19 times in the league, and for much of this match a single goal looked likely to settle it.
The Royals did well in the first half without threatening home keeper David Marshall, and the Latics almost doubled their lead before half-time when Josh Windass met Garner's fine cross-field ball and volleyed just wide of the left-hand post.
Puscas and McCleary spurned good chances for the Royals either side of the break as the hosts looked more likely to take the points, with Pilkington's deflected shot inches away from making it 2-0.
Reading had just two shots on target until Puscas' intervention, wrapping up only a second away victory of the season and extending Wigan's winless run to seven league matches.
The Latics remain third-bottom, while Reading move five points clear of the relegation places in 18th.
Wigan Athletic manager Paul Cook told BBC Radio Manchester:
"It's certainly some end to the game, it's certainly not the end that we wanted or probably that anyone envisaged was coming.
"To say we're disappointed would be an understatement. It's the brutality of life in this division and again, we're on the receiving end of it today.
"In football, confidence is hard to find. You can be on a bad run like we are and key moments massively hurt you in a game.
"The reality is we're in a relegation fight and wins are hard to find. To get out of it, we have to win games and I believe we're capable of doing that."
Reading manager Mark Bowen told BBC Radio Berkshire:
"I was really angry and frustrated at half-time as I said to the guys, I thought we had ample opportunity to dominate the game.
"I thought our first touch was poor, our passing was sloppy, our creativity wasn't there and maybe that was a result of playing Leeds and Brentford before that.
"I've been asking for that resilience and endeavour, but in the first half hour we forgot how to get on the ball and play.
"But we got more players into wide areas and around the front two to make those chances. But, it was a massive turning point for us and George (Puscas) that that penalty went in.
"You could see in the last 20 minutes how much his confidence grew once he found the back of the net. But the ongoing issue is we've got to get more quality into him."