Reading came from behind to seal a 3-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Madejski Stadium and book themselves into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday.
Darren Fletcher put the Premier League club ahead in the second half, but five minutes later Paul McShane found an equaliser for the Royals.
By the 72nd minute, Brian McDermott’s side were celebrating taking the lead as Michael Hector nodded home and Lucas Piazon wrapped up the game with a goal in the 94th minute.
Early indications suggested that it would be a scrappy game as neither side mustered anything meaningful in terms of troubling the respective goalkeepers.
Eleven minutes in, the Baggies had a nervy moment when Jonas Olsson’s miss-kicked clearance fell to the feet of Simon Cox, but the Reading forward failed to make the most of the opportunity as he was too slow to get his shot away.
It took almost 40 minutes for a goalkeeper to make a save and it was Ben Foster who was called into action as Oliver Norwood’s cross met Hal Robson-Kanu in the box.
The midfielder managed to get his shot away, but Foster, who returned to action in January following 10 months out with a knee injury, reacted quickly and managed to keep the ball out of the net.
After the break, both teams showed more attacking intent as corners at both ends were earned inside the first 10 minutes of the restart, but none of them resulted in a goal.
After some pressure, a rejuvenated West Brom side broke the deadlock when Fletcher found himself in acres of space on the edge of the box and struck the ball across goal and into the bottom corner.
The Baggies were not celebrating for long, though, as McShane levelled up for Reading in the 60th minute by heading home the ball from close range following a set piece.
West Brom looked in control of the game as the second half progressed, but they were dealt a sucker-punch when Hector nodded the ball into the net after latching on to Norwood’s delivery at the back post from a set piece.
Tony Pulis’s side had 15 minutes to respond, and despite piling on the pressure in the closing stages, they were unable to make them count.
The nail in the coffin for West Brom came in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Piazon, who had been on the pitch for just over one minute, hammered the ball past Foster from inside the box.
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