A brace from new Reading signing George Puscas inspired his side to a big win at home to Cardiff City. The Romania international, signed for £8 million from Inter Milan in the summer, scored twice in the first half before John Swift added a third after the break.
George Puscas Inspires Reading to Victory
Adding to the Tally
Puscas found the net for the first time in a Reading shirt earlier this week in the Carabao Cup win over Wycombe Wanderers. Within 25 minutes today, he was at it again. Picking up the ball wide on the right, he powered down the line and cut inside before curling past Alex Smithies with his left foot. In terms of defending from Cardiff, it was pretty non-existent. They even had an extra defender on the pitch at that point, Curtis Nelson having replaced Marlon Pack through injury. However, Puscas was easily allowed to get into the box to break the deadlock.
Smithies, who was coming in for the injured Neil Etheridge, didn’t cover himself in glory with the second, although the defending left a lot to be desired too. A fierce ball in from the right looked to be a comfortable clearance for Cardiff, but Puscas showed his intent to get in between the two defenders and poke between the legs of the goalkeeper.
Swift Rounds it Off
Cardiff improved in the second half, while Reading looked far off the pace they had initially set. However, clear chances for Neil Warnock’s side were still not forthcoming, and Reading were presented with plenty of opportunities to run away with it.
They couldn’t quite do that, although they did manage to add a third goal when Swift powered home from inside the box.
After a poor first-half showing, Smithies did at least restore some pride when Reading were awarded a penalty. Substitute Yakou Meite stepped up to take it but the Cardiff stopper guessed right to get two strong hands to the effort and palm away.
It didn’t change the overall outcome of the game though, and Reading recorded their first league win of the season to move above Cardiff in the table to 17th.
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