Yakou Meite scored a crucial goal as Reading played out a 1-1 draw against Cardiff City in Friday’s Championship game.
The 25-year-old was afforded his 16th league start of the season and made a significant contribution for the Royals at Madejski Stadium.
The Ivory Coast international formed a three-man midfield along with Nigeria’s Michael Olise and Ovie Ejaria while Lucas Joao led the Reading attack.
The game started with both sides aiming to outwit each other but failed to convert the few chances that came their way in the first half.
With the game looking to end without goals, Kieffer Moore broke the deadlock in the 87th minute, converting from the penalty spot.
Meite then rescued the Royals from defeat when he found the back of the net moments before the end of the game after receiving a fine assist from Sam Baldock.
The draw helped Reading to avoid their second consecutive loss after losing against Watford in their last outing in the Championship.
The result ensured the Royals are seventh on the league table after gathering 67 points from 41 games and are one place below the play-off spots.
Meite featured for the duration of the game, struck five shots, made 33 touches on the ball and had a 78 percent successful pass rate as part of his contribution in the game.
The forward has now scored nine goals and provided one assist in 20 Championship games in the 2020-21 campaign.
His teammates and Nigeria’s Ejaria was also on parade for the entirety of the game, Olise featured for 90 minutes before his replacement and Sone Aluko was a 90th-minute substitute.
Ghana defender Andy Yiadom also played for 90 minutes before making way for Baldock while Anglo-Nigerian Sheyi Ojo was on parade for nine minutes after replacing Harry Wilson.
Meite will hope to continue his impressive goalscoring performances when Reading square off against Luton Town in their next league game on April 21.
The forward has been with Reading since the summer of 2016 when he teamed up with the club from Paris Saint Germain and has since established himself at Madejski Stadium.