A remarkable second half turnaround saw Reading beat Birmingham City 3-1 at Saint Andrews in the Championship.

Goals from Matt Miazga, Yakou Meite and Pele see Reading leapfrog the Blues in the Championship table.

The Royals now sit 13th and have pulled further away from the relegation scrap at the bottom of the Championship.

And more impressively, Mark Bowen's side ended Birmingham's 10 match unbeaten run stretching back to new years day.

Story of the Match 

It really was an awful start to the game from the Royals, and Scott Hogan nearly scoring from   close range in  the fourth minute should have been enough to wake the Royals up.

However, it wasn't, and poor communication by ex-Blue Michael Morrison and Matt Miazga was pounced upon by the inform Scott Hogan who chipped Rafael Cabral in the Reading goal to give the midlands side a well deserved lead early on here.

That goal seemed to ruffle a few feathers within the Reading camp and they gradually worked their way back into the game and really should have made it 1-1 minutes later, but George Puscas skied his effort from inside the Birmingham box as he caught the Blues back line napping on that occasion.

But that one chance didn't halt Birmingham from exploiting the Royals's defensive frailties early on in the first half. Hogan and Ivan Sunjic spurned chances to add to the lead which weren't taken.

They were nearly punished for not taking the chance as in the 25th minute, the away side wasted a glorious opportunity to level the game up.

Fullback Andy Yiadom caught the Blues back line napping and consequently played in Yakou Meite who has his close range curling effort saved by Lee Camp in the Blues goal. The rebound came out to Michael Olise who had his effort deflected over the bar to Birmingham's relief. 

Unbelievably, the match settled down after that highly frantic part of the first half which saw Birmingham take overall control of the contest. 

The quiet part at the end of the first half could have been broken with a moment of brilliance before half-time from Meite, however his acrobatic attempt in the Birmingham box sailed harmlessly over Lee Camp's goal.

Going into half-time, the Royals could count themselves lucky to really still be in the game. 

The second half started a little better for Reading than the first, but Birmingham still exploited the weaknesses in the defence.

A free-kick in the 49th minute from the left was floated into the box by Jude Bellingham and found Lucas Jutkiewicz who floated his free header over the bar.

All these wasted chances from the home side were finally punished in the 51st minute when Andy Rinomhota floated a lovely cross into the box from the second phase of a corner and found Matt Miazga who finished his chance like a striker to level the game at 1-1. 

Reading managed to complete a quick turnaround in the 55th minute when Yakou Meite headed in John Swift's free kick to make it 2-1 to the Royals.

This topsy turvy affair nearly took another twist in the 72nd minute but the referee waved away Jude Bellingham's penalty appeals.

Approaching the final ten minutes, Bowen was looking to see out the 2-1 lead and not add to it. This was demonstrated by his defensive subs to bring on Liam Moore and Pele. 

But the defensive approach reaped its rewards in the 86th minute as Pele scored on the counter after a lovely through ball from Gareth McCleary. 

That goal capped off a wonderful day for Reading who did emphatically bounce back from that FA Cup loss against Sheffield United in midweek.

Things we learned 

Scott Hogan going from strength to strength 

Not much was expected of Hogan after his poor spell at Aston Villa, but he has really found his home already here.

The first goal was clinically taken after pouncing on a mistake from Morrison, and it's clear to see his confidence grow and grow every minute he played today. 

The only regret for him is that he could have easily had two goals within the first fifteen minutes, however the  27-year-old couldn't convert his second chance which seemed easier to score than the one he did a few minutes prior to that.

However, his first and Birmingham's only goal today made it an impressive 10 goals scored so far since the January move.

Reading lacked a real leader in defence

Obviously one of the biggest stories coming into the game was the return of Morrison to his former club.

Bowen decided to captain the defender and that decision didn't turn out too well... 

Reading's whole defence lacked structure and leadership in the first half and a mistake from the captain himself gifted the first goal of the game to the home side. 

The question many fans would ask- why didn't Liam Moore start today? 

He did come on in the 80th minute though and made a very good header to stop Jutkiewicz from heading in a goal for Birmingham.

Bowen certainly has thinking to do on who will be the centre back partnership for the next game against Stoke next Saturday at the Madejski Stadium.

Midfield highly unbalanced for the Royals especially in the first half 

Bowen went for two attacking midfielders in the midfield three yet again, and overall the imbalance in the midfield was clear throughout the game.

In the first half especially- Rinomhota was constantly out of position and that left a massive hole which Birmingham exploited effectively.

It was much better in the second half due to Swift sitting further back and helping Rinomhota out, but maybe Pele starting would have been a better option in terms of balancing the midfield out from the start.

Pele did come on midway through the second half to help try and add more defensive solidity as Reading looked to see out the 2-1 lead.

He didn't just help see the lead out- he also scored to make it 3-1.