Cardiff City have climbed back into the top half of the Championship table after beating 10-man Reading 2-1 at the Cardiff City Stadium this evening.

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Adam Le Fondre, who was facing his former club tonight, could have given the hosts the lead inside the opening five minutes when Anthony Pilkington provided the cross, but his header went high.

David Marshall came under pressure down the other end early on too, as Glenn Murray tried a low driven effort for the visitors but could not beat the Scottish international.

Cardiff took the lead when Peter Whittingham curled a corner in, forcing Alex Pearce to head the ball past his own keeper.

Things got worse for the defender before the break as he gave away a penalty deep in first-half stoppage time, earning himself a red card and leaving Whittingham to double Cardiff's lead from the spot.

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Pilkington could have made it three shortly after the restart when he attempted an ambitious long-range effort, but he could not beat Adam Federici.

The hosts tried to make the most of their man advantage, with John Brayford, Craig Noone and Le Fondre all trying to extend Cardiff's lead, but they all missed the target.

Reading gave themselves some late hope when Jake Taylor won a corner and curled it back in for Michael Hector to slot in with just under 10 minutes to play.

Federico Macheda could have put the win beyond doubt for Russell Slade's side a few moments later after Fabio supplied the through-ball, but Federici made the stop, before also parrying the rebound from Mats Moller Daehli.

Cardiff did enough to hold on though, climbing up to 11th in the table, while Reading sit 14th.