Charlton 4 (Holland 25, Gray pen 41, Varney 68, Bouazza 71)
Reading 2 (Sonko 45, Hunt pen 53)

The Royals were sunk by Alan Pardew's Charlton Athletic in an eventful game of six goals, three penalties and one red card at the Valley on Saturday afternoon.

Charlton enjoyed the better of the early stages and it was no great surprise when they went ahead after 25 minutes, Matt Holland tapping into an empty net after Marcus Hahnemann parried Luke Varney's deflected shot.

Kevin Doyle then hit the bar from a penalty that he had won himself, and Charlton soon went two up with another spot kick decision - Ibrahima Sonko controversially judged to have pushed Varney and Andy Gray slotting home.

But Sonko was quickly back in action at the other end, halving the deficit on the stroke of half time with a towering header from Bobby Convey's deep cross for his third goal of the season.

Reading levelled just after the break in controversial circumstances, when Jonathan Fortune was ruled to have shoved Leroy Lita as they contested a Liam Rosenior cross. Stephen Hunt's spot-kick was saved by Weaver, but the linesman judged he had moved too early so Hunt was given a second opportunity which he accepted.

More goals looked likely at both ends, and it was Charlton who retook the lead 15 minutes later when the Reading defence failed to clear their lines and Lloyd Sam was able to cross for Varney to send an excellent header beyond Hahnemann.

Three minutes later the Addicks wrapped the game up with another eye-catching goal, when Yassin Moutaouakil crossed for Hameur Bouazza to smash home a first-time left-footed volley.

The final nail in the Royals' coffin was hammered home with six minutes remaining, when Sonko was dismissed after receiving his second yellow card.

Charlton: Weaver, Moutaouakil (Semedo 89), Basey, Hudson (c), Fortune; Holland, Bailey, Sam (Ambrose 82), Bouazza; Varney, Gray.
Subs: Elliot, Shelvey, Dickson
Yellow card: Bouazza

Reading: Hahnemann; Rosenior, S Hunt, Ingimarsson, Sonko (sent off 84); Cisse, Harper (c), Kebe, Convey (N Hunt 72); Doyle (Long 76), Lita (Pearce 84)
Subs: Federici, Kelly
Yellow card: N Hunt

Att: 20,020

Full report

The Royals had the first opening of the game in the fourth minute, when Jimmy Kebe found Liam Rosenior in space down the right. The full back's first time low cross picked out Kevin Doyle unmarked 12 yards from goal, but the striker badly mis-hit his shot well wide.

Reading had settled well and came close again after eight minutes, when Kebe broke from a Charlton cross to sprint sixty yards into the Charlton half, produce a beautiful piece of skill to trick his way into the area and fire a low shot to the near post, where Nicky Weaver made a strong parry.

Charlton first threatened on ten minutes, when Nicky Bailey slid a lovely pass into the path of advancing full back Yassin Moutaouakil, whose fierce low cross was well gathered by Marcus Hahnemann.

The Addicks were gathering a head of steam, and Hameur Bouazza almost broke the deadlock when he controlled a Bailey pass and skipped past Ibrahima Sonko before clipping a quickly taken shot across the face of goal and narrowly wide of the far post.

Approaching the 20-minute mark, Hahnemann had to be alert to race off his line and grab a loose ball inside the penalty box after Ivar Ingimarsson's clearance ricocheted dangerously off James Harper.

Charlton had enjoyed the better of the opening quarter, and got the goal they had been threatening when Moutaouaki's deep right sided cross was recycled back into Luke Varney. The former Crewe striker turned a low shot goalwards, and when the ball deflected off Sonko, Hahnemann could only parry to give Matt Holland a simple tap-in.

Weaver was soon forced into a comfortable save from Kebe as the Mali international volleyed Doyle's left wing cross goalwards, but the Royals were struggling to gather any attacking momentum.

Steve Coppell's team were handed a route back into the game on 33 minutes when Doyle controlled Kebe's cross and was lightly tripped by Moutaouakil, prompting referee Lee Mason to point to the spot. But Doyle fired the resultant spot-kick against the crossbar and Charlton were reprieved.

Charlton got back into the ascendancy and Hahnemann was forced into two saves in quick succession, first denying Varney after the striker beat Sonko and shot low at the near post, and then producing a routine stop from Andy Gray's header. The home side's pressure continued as Bouazza found space in the middle to shoot powerfully from 25 yards, but his effort drifted narrowly wide of the right post.

Another penalty soon followed, this time at the other end for a push by Sonko on Varney. It was a contentious decision because the contact seemed to be outside the area and referee was a long way from the action, relying on his linesman to make the decision, but Gray took full advantage with a simple finish into the right corner, sending Hahnemann the wrong way.

On the stroke of half-time Sonko got the Royals back into the game; Hunt's corner was partially cleared to Convey, whose cross was met by a thunderous header from the central defender, giving Weaver no chance whatsoever. It was just the boost Reading needed, bringing an otherwise disappointing half to a positive conclusion.

Seconf half
With the second half just six minutes old the Royals were awarded their second penalty, the third of the game in total, and it was another disputed decision by Mr Mason, who spotted a very light push by Jonathan Fortune on Leroy Lita.

This time Stephen Hunt stepped up and fired low to Weaver's left only for the keeper to make a save. But there was another twist as the linesman flagged to signal that Weaver had moved too early, which looked harsh on the Addicks keeper. Hunt took advantage of his fortune to score at the second attempt, calmly slotting into the left.

The home fans and players were understandably furious, and the atmosphere became lively to say the least as the tempo of an already frantic game quickened even further.

Both teams looked more than capable of scoring, and the next chance came for Charlton after 62 minutes when Varney cut in from the left to shoot from 25 yards, and when it took a wicked deflection off Sonko, Hahnemann had to react quickly to turn it over the bar.

At the other end Grant Basey desperately headed over his own bar from Hunt's excellent free kick, and resulting corner was half cleared to Kalifa Cisse whose left footed strike was goalbound before being deflected wide by an Addicks defender.

Midway through the period Charlton were back ahead when the visitors failed to clear their lines and Varney met Lloyd Sam's right wing cross to send an immaculate header beyond Hahnemann's grasp and into the left hand corner.

Three minutes later it was 4-2 as the visiting defence was again cut open, allowing Moutaouaki to cross from the right to the far post, where Bouazza had space to smash a first-time left footed volley beyond the helpless Hahnemann.

It was very nearly five soon after wen Hunt misplaced a header back to his goalkeeper, who had to block well from Varney and then watch Sonko clear Gray's goalbound looping header from the rebound. Straight back down at the other end, Kebe had a chance to reduce the arrears but shot wide after showing good pace to burst through the middle of the home defence.

Steve Coppell introduced Noel Hunt and Shane Long in place of Bobby Convey and Kevin Doyle, and Long almost paid an instant dividend as his teasing right wing cross seemed destined for Lita to score until Sam intervened.

Inside the last ten minutes, the afternoon turned worse for the Royals when Sonko was shown his second yellow card for a lunge on Hameur Bouazza, giving Alex Pearce his first run-out of the league season in place of Lita.

With four minutes left the Royals' final hopes evaporated when Kebe advanced down the right and delivered an excellent cross to the far post, where Noel Hunt rose with a powerful header only to be denied by the crossbar, and seconds later another Long cross was met again by Hunt whose low strike was deflected just wide.

Cisse had the last opportunity, forcing a smart save from Weaver with a low left footed effort from 20 yards after he received Noel Hunt's infield pass.

But by this stage the game was up, and moments later Mason's whistle signalled the end of an exhilarating game.