Reading won 3-2 at Swansea as former England pair Andy Carroll and Danny Drinkwater rolled back the years with their first goals for the Royals.
Carroll struck after Tom Dele-Bashiru had cancelled out Jamie Paterson’s quickfire Swansea opener that had set the tone of a frenetic Sky Bet Championship contest.
Ryan Manning equalised at the start of the second half but Drinkwater’s first goal since December 2017 gave Reading a welcome win following their recent six-point deduction for breaking financial regulations.
Reading had scarcely touched the ball before falling behind inside three minutes.
Korey Smith split the Royals’ defence with a delicious pass and Paterson beat goalkeeper Luke Southwood and the desperate goalline effort of Andy Yiadom for his eighth goal of the season.
That fast Swansea start might have deflated a Reading side with only one win in seven games but the visitors were level inside 60 seconds.
Dele-Bashiru was unmarked down the left and he cut inside on his right foot to beat Ben Hamer at the near post.
Swansea forced the pace as Southwood held Olivier Ntcham’s low effort and Joel Piroe was just off target after plucking Manning’s cross out of the air.
Piroe also tapped home Ethan Laird’s centre from close range but was denied by a flagging assistant referee.
Reading took the lead on the half-hour mark when Swansea were caught by Drinkwater’s ball over the top.
Carroll – who has signed a short-term Reading until mid-January – raced clear with no offside flag and had enough time to shift the ball on to his left foot.
The former Newcastle and Liverpool striker found the bottom corner for only his third goal in four years and his first since January.
Matt Grimes fired a free-kick straight at Southwood and Swansea were level within four minutes of the restart as Manning superbly curled home his first goal for the club.
But Swansea had not learned the lesson of the first half and again fell instantly behind.
Dele-Bashiru was given too much space to strike the post and the rebound fell kindly for Drinkwater, who found the net for the first time since scoring for Chelsea nearly four years ago.
Carroll drove across goal and Josh Laurent forced a fine finger-tip stop from Hamer as Reading sought to kill off the contest.
But Swansea were far from finished and Southwood saved from Grimes before Manning and Ntcham were denied amid some penalty area pinball.
John Swift’s free-kick forced an acrobatic save from Hamer but Southwood stayed alert to protect Reading’s lead by foiling Piroe and Kyle Naughton during a hectic finale.
