Felix Magath may have defended Matt Smith for the full-blooded lunge that saw the new £500,000 striker dismissed 18 minutes into his first game - but the manager can have no complaints about the 3-0 result.
The Whites were already a goal down and in danger of being overrun even before Smith took the long walk.
It got worse, although there Tim Hoogland was denied when about to pull the trigger six yards out in the second half. The one Whites hero was Mr Pyjama Man Gabor Kiraly, found to be wide awake in the Fulham goal.
The man now 38 and still wearing tracksuit bottoms pulled off a string of fine saves, including a full-length dive to deny Jake Taylor.
But when the keeper was rounded to produce Reading's third five minutes from time, it was the 2,745 Fulham fans who rounded on the manager with chants of 'Felix out' as they searched for the Madejski exits.
