AFC Wimbledon 2-0 Reading FC: Lacklustre Royals Blown Away By Slow Start

Reading's pre-season winning streak came to an end today, with AFC Wimbledon beating the Royals by two goals to nil. Both strikes came in the first half.

Jaap Stam named a very different side to the one that played at Swindon in mid-week, retaining only Joseph Mendes and John Swift.

The game started terribly for the Royals, with Dean Parrett opening the scoring after just 14 seconds. Things got even worse 20 minutes in, when new Wimbledon signing Dom Poleon put the hosts two up. A long ball down the inside left channel found Poleon, who managed to tuck the ball away from a tight angle past Ali Al-Habsi.

Overall, Reading had a lot of the ball in the first half, but struggled to make their possession count.

The performance was a little better in the second half, but Reading ultimately couldn't find a way back into the match.

That said, all but one of Reading's outfield subs saw gametime in the second 45, with Zak Jules the odd man out.

Stay tuned for the Tilehurst End where we'll have a fuller match report, plus some in-depth analysis.