PAUNOVIĆ MAKES PERFECT START WITH RAMS WIN

THERE can be fewer better starts to life as Reading boss than the one experience by Veljko Paunović – first-half goals from Lucas Joao and Ovie Ejaria gave the away team all three points at Derby.

Joao opened the scoring from a corner in the 40th minute before Ejaria doubled the lead fromJoao’s pass on the stroke of half-time.

The Royals had most of the early possession as they played the ball around calmly around the back as Derby struggled to have any extended period of possession despite being at home.

The first glimpse of a Reading attack came after fourminutes when John Swift found Michael Olise with a brilliant flick, but his pass which looked to pick out Joao was crucially intercepted.

The Royals should have capitalised on their fine start in the 18th minute when Joao had a great chance to score but was denied byMarshall, but Swift looked poised to capitalise on the rebound but blazed the ball over the bar.

Ovie Ejaria began to stamp his influence on the game and had a soft appeal for a penalty turned down.

Reading made sure that they had something to show for their dominance when Joao scored in the 40th minute.

Joao lost his marker as he raced to the front post to meet Olise’s whipped corner and squeezed the ball in at the near post with a first timed finish.

Paunović‘s side then made sure that theywould go in with a two-nil advantage as they doubled their lead just a minute before the break.

Goalkeeper Rafael picked out Joao with a long ball as the Portuguese forward used his strength to hold up the ball, before he showed his superb awareness and footwork to flick the ball with a back heel to Ejaria who seized his opportunity as he opened his body and curled the ball into the bottom right corner.

The Royals continued to strut their stuff and came a whisker away from adding their third.

A sweeping move saw them play it out to the right wing which led to a storming run forward fromAndy Yiadom who picked out Joao in the middle but his shot crashed off the crossbar.

Looking to turn their fortunes around, Phillip Cocu drew on the experience ofWayne Rooneywho replaced Shinnie on the hourmark for the Rams.

The Rams were unable to penetrate the Royals back line as Reading closed out the game to record a clean sheet and three points to put them top of the league after the first round of fixtures.

“I’mvery grateful to the guys for that performance and the spirit and the game we developed from start to finish,” said Paunović.

“We scored the goals right at the time that theywere growing in confidence and building pressure.

“We controlled the game well but we’re learning a lot and we’re looking to keep on improving.

“We want to be able to build on that going forward.”

He added: “While we’ll work on strengthening the squad with the market being open, the most important thing is this group right now.”

DERBY COUNTY: Marshall, Wisdom, Forsyth, Shinnie, te Wierik, Bird (c), Marriott, Clarke, Sibley, Whittaker, Knight.

SUBS: Byrne, Roos, Evans, Buchanan,

Rooney, Davies, Brown

READING: Rafael, Yiadom, Moore, Morrison, Richards, Laurent, Rinomhota, Swift, Ejaria, Olise, Joao.

SUBS: Southwood, Holmes, Bristow,

Araruna, Aluko, Baldock, Puscas GOALS: Joao 40′, Ejaria 45′