West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Reading: Daryl Dike seals win for dominant Baggies
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Daryl Dike's header was just the second goal of an injury-hit season for the USA international striker
West Bromwich Albion's resurgence under Carlos Corberan continued as they beat Reading for an eighth win in their last nine Championship matches.
Conor Townsend's header from a sixth-minute corner hit the base of the post as the Baggies had four excellent chances to score in the opening 10 minutes.
It took an hour for West Brom to finally break the deadlock thanks to Daryl Dike's diving header.
Lucas Joao almost equalised with five minutes left, but his shot from the edge of the box was deflected just over the crossbar before Baba Rahman headed the resulting corner agonisingly over.
The victory - which has seen the Baggies take 24 points from a possible 30 since Corberan took over from Steve Bruce as head coach in October - sees West Brom move to within a point of the play-off places, having been bottom of the table when he took charge.
The Baggies started like a side riding high on the confidence of seven wins from their previous eight games as they had eight attempts on goal and 83% possession in the opening 15 minutes.
Okay Yokuslu dragged a shot wide, Joe Lumley made superb saves from Jayson Molumby and Townsend - after the latter had hit the post - while Dike put an excellent opportunity wide from close range.
Reading struggled to deal with Jed Wallace and John Swift's creativity as Dike had three more chances to open the scoring - a blocked shot, a header saved from the resulting corner and a low strike dragged wide of the post midway through the half after a lovely pass from Wallace.
Having held on Reading should have gone ahead after half an hour as the returning Yakou Meite got past Dara O'Shea and pulled the ball back to Junior Hoilett, but the Canada international's shot was saved by the legs of Alex Palmer.
West Brom fans protested against owner Guochuan Lai
The second half did not live up to the first as Baggies fans chanted for the removal of chairman Guochuan Lai, after his company missed a deadline to repay a loan owed to the club.
But the home faithful had something more positive to cheer about when they finally went ahead as American forward Dike got in front of his marker to glance a header past Lumley after a cross from the right from Molumby.
Wallace almost created a second when he broke clear with nine minutes left as he skipped past the onrushing Lumley and floated a teasing cross that Brandon Thomas-Asante glanced wide.
Had Reading taken either of their two late chances it would have been harsh on a West Brom side that impressed for long periods.
West Bromwich Albion head coach Carlos Corberan told BBC Radio WM:
"The team started the game really well, the first 25 minutes I watched a team going for the game, attacking a lot.
"In the second half we tried to have a better position in attack, to have Dike more focused in the box, players like Townsend and Molumby attacking more and we did that well.
"It's always important for strikers to score a goal and Daryl is working really hard to help the team from the previous injury he had.
"For me it's important that he's training more, that he's creating more, and we know that he's one player that can make the difference when he receives balls in the box."
Reading manager Paul Ince told BBC Radio Berkshire:
"To be fair we looked a tired team, three games in seven days for us relying on the same players - they've had an extra day off, as did Norwich, so we knew what was coming.
"We took a while to get to grips with it and we could have been two or three down before you know it.
"Second half I thought we played very well, but then you can't keep letting balls into the box, I kept saying to the lads 'stop crosses, stop crosses', but we don't do it, we're disorganised and then we're 1-0 down and chasing the game."