Kebe rules for Royals

Reading 2 Sunderland 1

Kebe opened the scoring after just seven minutes at the Madejski Stadium and popped up with an 85th-minute header to secure victory against the Black Cats, who had hit back through a Craig Gardner penalty.

Reading have become synonymous with dramatic late goals recently and Kebe’s effort means Brian McDermott’s side are now two points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

McAnuff, who provided the assist for Kebe’s opener, was full of praise for the former Lens man.

“He’s a real handful for any defence in this league,” he said.

“He has shown a different side to his game — he was back defending, blocking crosses and it was a fantastic header to get the winner.

“Jimmy is in really good form and he’s been a big player for us so far this season. His goal return has been good and he’s flying at the moment.

“He’s a real sight to see when he’s in full flow and I’m glad he’s in our side when he’s on song like this.”

Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill said he was disappointed his side had lost at the Madejski Stadium and midfielder Jack Colback echoed his manager’s views.

“The winning goal was difficult to take, especially after we’d just had a couple of chances ourselves,” Colback said.

Kebe’s winning goal came from a deep free-kick from former Sunderland and Republic of Ireland full-back Ian Harte.

The 35-year-old had a number of set-pieces throughout the game that caused havoc for the Black Cats’ defensive unit, as Colback alluded to.

“Harte put dangerous balls in all day and he’s been doing that for the last 10 or 15 years,” Colback added.

“We couldn’t defend it and the guy got in there, which means we’ve come away with nothing when we certainly should have got something.”