Patrick Roberts produced a moment of magic as Sunderland picked up a big win to maintain their promotion play-off push.
The former Celtic loanee has been a key player under Tony Mowbray alongside ex- Rangers man Amad Diallo this season and it was the one-time Hoops fans' favourite who stepped up this time around as his brilliant solo effort claimed victory over Reading.
He started the move and when he collected the ball back out wide, he nutmegged a defender before getting into the box. A Reading player looked to have won the ball back but the tricky winger snatched it back from his feet before expertly putting another Royals stopper on the ground with a dummy before smashing home for the home side. The Stadium of Light went wild at the 84th minute strike that put the Black Cats seventh in the standings and well in the hunt for the top six.
READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou in Leeds United link nine word response as Celtic boss insists 'focus' on Parkhead
Mowbray was honest in his assessment branding his team 'a bit dull' in their performance but still believes they deserved to claim all three points. He said: "I'm wary of saying it felt like a tired performance, but if I'm being honest it seemed that their brains were a bit dull today.
"We talked about how we need to play against a team like Reading - Paul [Ince] was going to set up differently, he knew of our threats - so we knew it was going to be tough to get through them. I felt we were just a bit dull. The team felt a bit dull.
"There were a few of them moaning about the surface as well, and yet we found a way. Let's put the points in the bag, we won't over-analyse the performance but we do have to be a bit better, braver, tighter on the ball.
"Bright, clever, alert footballers make the game look really easy, but we were anything but that - particularly in the first half we struggled, we were too slow, and couldn't get in between the lines. But I feel we deserved to win the game and as I sit here with three points in the bag, I've just seen the table and we're seventh, so we just have to keep going.
"We've got a tough game on Tuesday night so we will come in tomorrow and recover, get on a train on Monday and go to London and try do it all again at Queens Park Rangers."
READ NEXT:
- Kyogo Furuhashi sparks Celtic injury concern as Japanese forward forced off amid cup final fear
- Celtic player ratings as Hyeon-gyu Oh strikes and Daizen Maeda shines in ruthless Scottish Cup win
- The Aaron Mooy Celtic 'surprise' factor as Ange Postecoglou must take credit for 'remarkable' role
