Matej Vydra goal earns Reading draw against Brighton & Hove Albion

Matej Vydra's first goal for Reading has earned the Royals a 1-1 draw with Championship leaders Brighton & Hove Albion.

It was Reading who had the better of the opening 45 minutes, with Oliver Norwood forcing a solid save out of David Stockdale from a 25-yard free kick inside the first 15 minutes.

Garath McCleary missed the target with his left foot, before Nick Blackman saw two attempts go begging as the half drew to a close.

Reading's failure to take their chances came back to hurt them six minutes into the second half when Jamie Murphy was able to convert at the back post after some neat approach work.

Falling a goal behind did little to discourage Reading, with Vydra squandering a decent opening on the hour mark before Blackman brought another save out of Stockdale.

Brighton nearly doubled their lead through Tomer Hemed, with only a last-gasp block from Paul McShane denying him a goal, before Danny Williams drilled a shot wide of Stockdale's post.

Reading finally found the goal that their play deserved with 12 minutes left when Blackman's stinging shot was parried by Stockdale and Vydra was on hand to score the rebound.

Reading pushed for a winning goal, with Blackman again going close from distance, but Brighton held on to preserve their unbeaten league record.