Yakubu came off the bench to notch a late winner and send Reading into the FA Cup quarter finals with a 2-1 win away at Derby County this afternoon.
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Derby sprung out of the blocks and had two early chances to take the lead, with Craig Bryson and Simon Dawkins both drawing saves from Adam Federici.
Omar Mascarell then flashed a free kick just wide of the far post, but Reading showed their prowess from set pieces moments later as they worked the ball to Simon Cox, who crashed an effort against the outside of the post, with Kelle Roos stranded.
Jesse Lingard almost grabbed a debut goal for Derby, but Federici palmed his effort away before denying Darren Bent's snapshot on the turn.
Ten minutes before the break, Cox blazed a volley over the bar after Pavel Pogrebnyak had headed back across goal for his strike partner.
Stephen Warnock was sent off shortly before half time for a second bookable offence and his lunging tackle on Stephen Kelly left his side with a difficult task in the second period.
This was made even harder in the 54th minute as Hal Robson-Kanu put Reading 1-0 ahead with a curling finish into the far corner.
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However, the Royals led for just seven minutes as Lingard's shot deflected off Bent and spun into the back of the net.
Pogrebnyak and Cox both came close as Reading looked to hit back immediately before Jamie Mackie spooned a good chance over the bar from close range.
With 20 minutes left to play, Steve Clarke threw on Yakubu in search of a winner and the Nigerian netted within 10 minutes of his introduction to send Reading into the last eight of the competition.
Kristian Johnson
