Unlikely Andy Carroll moment as Sunderland fans receive false Stoke scoreline during Reading win

The Black Cats boss knew this wasn’t his side’s best performance, yet a 1-0 victory courtesy of Patrick Roberts’ late winner saw them move within a place and a point of the Championship play-off places.

Here are some of the moments you may have missed:

Trai Hume wins Andy Carroll battle

Leading Reading’s attack was former Newcastle striker Andy Carroll, with the 34-year-old returning from a one-match suspension for his red card against Manchester United in the FA Cup.

At 6 ft 4 the frontman is a towering figure, so you wouldn’t expect Sunderland full-back Trai Hume, listed at 5 ft 9, to be winning aerial duels when the pair challenged for the ball.

Yet there were multiple occasions when Hume was able to beat Carroll in the air, with Sunderland keeping their opponents at arm’s length and conceding just one effort on target.

Fans receive false scoreline

The first half at the Stadium of Light was pretty uneventful as Sunderland struggled to break Reading down, despite dominating possession.

At half-time there was a brief cheer from some home fans when it was announced Hull were beating Stoke 3-0 – a response aimed towards former Black Cats boss Alex Neil.

Yet it turned out the match at The bet365 Stadium was actually goalless and remained 0-0 at full-time.

The result leaves Stoke 19th in the table, five points above the relegation zone.

A familiar face in the Reading dugout

Supporters may have noticed former Sunderland midfielder Alex Rae in the visitors’ dugout, with the 53-year-old regularly giving out instructions from the edge of the visitors’ technical area.

Rae, who spent five years on Wearside as a player between 1996 and 2001, was appointed Paul Ince’s assistant at Reading in February last year.

Sunderland unhappy with a lack of stoppage-time

At the end of the first half there were just two minutes of added time, despite several stoppages in play when Reading were trying to run the clock down.

As players walked off the pitch at the interval, Sunderland coaches Mike Dodds and Michael Proctor made a point to referee David Coote, presumably asking why more minutes weren’t added on.

It summed up a frustrating first half for the hosts before they found more gears after the interval.

New signing not in the squad

After making his Sunderland debut as a substitute at Millwall last weekend, new signing Joe Anderson wasn’t named in the squad against Reading.

The 21-year-old was in attendance at the Stadium of Light, yet Luke O’Nien’s versatility meant Mowbray felt he didn’t need another defender on the bench.

Winger Isaac Lihadji was named in the Black Cats squad for the first time since his arrival from Lille last month and was brought on with 15 minutes remaining.

Black armbands worn for Turkey and Syria

Before the match there was a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for those impacted by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Players from both sides also wore black armbands as part of an EFL campaign to raise awareness for the DEC and British Red Cross .

People can donate at www.dec.org.uk.