Huddersfield Town 1-2 Reading: Lucas Joao double gives Royals away win
- Published
Lucas Joao has now scored 16 goals for Reading this season
Reading's top scorer Lucas Joao netted a second-half double on his return from injury as they halted Huddersfield's winning streak at the John Smith's Stadium.
The Terriers, who had recorded five straight victories on home turf, looked on course for a sixth after Fraizer Campbell headed them into an early lead.
But Joao, who had missed Reading's last five games, equalised early in the second half with his 12th league goal of the season.
The Royals forward then scored again with a superb strike from the edge of the box as they climbed to fourth in the table, while Huddersfield dropped to 13th.
Campbell gave Town the ideal start in the sixth minute, soaring above his marker to meet Isaac Mbenza's cross and head home his fifth goal of the season.
However, the Terriers - who named an unchanged line-up for the fifth consecutive game - were indebted to goalkeeper Ryan Schofield for preserving that advantage at half-time.
Schofield got down to keep out a low drive from Sone Aluko and also produced an excellent point-blank save just before the break when John Swift's free-kick picked out Tom Holmes.
The impressive Swift also went close with another free-kick that struck the roof of the net, but Joao fired the Royals level with a deft finish seven minutes after the restart.
Running on to Tom McIntyre's punt from the halfway line, the Portuguese forward nipped in behind the defence and tucked a low finish beyond Schofield to make it 1-1.
The turnaround was completed 12 minutes later as Joao collected Michael Olise's pass with his back to goal, turned and evaded two defenders before curling a right-foot shot into the bottom corner.
Mbenza might have rescued a point for Huddersfield with a volley that Rafael Cabral parried - and poked another chance fractionally wide when Juninho Bacuna played him through soon afterwards.
But substitute Tomas Esteves almost added a third for the Royals in injury time, latching on to Sam Baldock's lay-off and crashing a shot against the bar.
Huddersfield head coach Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio Leeds:
"For me, the team started really well but little by little they [Reading] started to make some moments in the game that didn't allow us to press and recover the ball.
"They had a very clear chance at the end of the first half, from a set-piece situation and at the start of the second half we had the feeling we could start to control them again.
"But I think in two situations, especially one where we had total advantage in defence, we didn't do it and they scored. Then when we were drawing 1-1, we didn't find the reaction to protect the draw."
Reading manager Veljko Paunovic told BBC Radio Berkshire:
"Today's performance was the most complete we've had so far, especially because we were finally capable of doing something we haven't done before - to come back after conceding first and win the game.
"It was an impressive performance after three weeks away, especially impacting the game with two goals but also when you see how Joao moved on the field, giving his best in both attack and defence.
"I'm so proud of all the hard work he did to take it seriously and come back as soon as possible. That's what big players are made of - a great mentality and never giving up and he's the beacon of our attack."