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Brentford hold off Reading to reach round four
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- Brentford hold off Reading to reach round four
Brentford emerged from a tense finish against Reading to book their place in the Carabao Cup fourth round with a 2-1 victory at Select Car Leasing Stadium.
Callum Wilson and Fabio Carvalho were on target in the first half as the Premier League club showed a clinical touch against League One opposition, who produced a number of chances but lacked the firepower to finish them off.
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Paudie O'Connor eventually pulled one back to revive Reading's challenge and Brentford could not rest easy in the remaining 18 minutes, although substitute Igor Thiago was among those who should have killed the match off.
It took just 136 seconds for Brentford to take the lead with Wilson finding the bottom left corner of the net after a slip in defence by O'Connor turned Dango Ouattara 's pass into an opportunity.
A cross by Carvalho caused problems in the visiting box and Reading then had the ball in the net but referee Tom Nield ruled out O'Connor's bicycle kick for a high boot.
O'Connor was doing everything possible to make up for his earlier mistake as he headed a free-kick inches over the crossbar.
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Reading had clearly recovered from the shock of going behind so early as they poured forward, with a double clearance by Michael Kayode saving Brentford before Jamie Reid went desperately close.
O'Connor slipped again as he fluffed a clearance, giving Wilson time to pick his spot only for keeper Joel Pereira to get his body in the way.
Brentford scrambled to keep out Reid as he closed in on goal and then Conor Masterson flashed narrowly wide, but the Premier League club then scored on the counter-attack.
In a cruel blow for the Royals, Ouattara took advantage of the space in defence to slide the ball to Carvalho who calmly directed the ball beyond Pereira.
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Ellery Balcombe 's sharp reflexes prevented Josh Stokes from pulling one back for Reading but Brentford should have extended the lead only for Kayode to send a close-range effort wide.
Liam Fraser reminded the visitors they could not relax as he drilled a shot past the left post but the better chances were now coming at the other end, with Ouattara this time at fault for not making the most of a great opportunity.
Reading deserved a goal and it arrived in the 72nd minute when a corner was met by O'Connor's header, with the Irish defender's finish setting up a nervy finale.
On came Thiago but he was unable to improve the standard of finishing by his team, which had declined noticeably in the second half.
