Reading 0 Leeds United 2

Leeds claimed a valuable three points in their fight against relegation with a 2-0 victory at Reading.

Luke Murphy’s speculative effort from long distance appeared to deceive home goalkeeper Adam Federici and gave Leeds the lead midway through the second half.

Sam Byram then sealed the win in the last minute when nodding in unmarked at the far post.

Leeds have stuttered all season and the permanent appointment of manager Neil Redfearn in November had not seemed to have improved matters.

Prior to the visit to the Madejski Stadium, Redfearn had overseen just four wins in his 15 matches in charge.

Reading had fared better since Steve Clarke replaced Nigel Adkins as manager in December, with just two defeats in ten games in all competitions.

Neither of the teams were able to muster any worthwhile attempts on goal in a lacklustre opening.

Reading did most of the pressing, mainly through the right-wing runs of Garath McCleary, but could not produce any end product.

Pavel Pogrebnyak also tried to pierce the Leeds defensive cover but was thwarted by an excellent tackle from Tommaso Bianchi.

After a poor first half from both sides, Reading set about making amends after the interval.

It was much against the run of play, though, when Leeds went ahead in the 63rd minute.

There appeared little threat when Murphy gathered the ball 35 yards out but he unleashed a fierce drive that Federici seemed to see late and could only help on its way into the net.

Byram sealed a much-needed Leeds victory in the 90th minute when nodding in from Morison’s far-post cross.