VITO Mannone dedicated his stoppage-time penalty save to his late mother as Reading FC secured a vital 1-0 win against Queens Park Rangers on Good Friday.

Royals had taken a first-half lead through a rare Sone Aluko wonder goal but found themselves under intense pressure throughout the majority of Paul Clement’s first game in charge.

Ian Holloway’s Rangers threw the kitchen sink at Royals at times and Clement’s men had to defend for their lives when Yann Kermorgant was dismissed for inadvertently wiping out Darnell Furlong.

And the visitors had a prime opportunity to snatch a deserved equaliser when Dave Edwards brought down Wszolek inside the box deep into added time.

Jake Bidwell stepped forward in front of the travelling thousands but was sensationally denied by Italian keeper Mannone, who palmed the ball away to his right.

And Mannone dedicated his heroic save to his late mother Elisa, who sadly died last year.

“It’s a penalty save that I would like to dedicate to her and obviously my dad,” beamed Mannone.

“It’s been tough but I always try to be the lion that she was.

“Football is my saviour and I just live to have moments like that in the 91st minute.”

Defender Bidwell, who was spun on the half-way line before Aluko accelerated away and fired Royals ahead in sensational style, had a golden opportunity to make amends.

He fired his penalty to Mannone’s left but the Italian guessed the right way to deny him.

Bracknell News:

Sone Aluko's 25-yard blockbuster set Royals on their way on Friday night.

Mannone continued: “We always study the penalty takers.

“We do lots of work behind the scenes. We work on it but when the moment comes anything can happen.

“They might go another way, you have to use your instinct and try and make the save.”

He added: "Dave Edwards is relieved. He told me he had his head in his hands.

"These things happens in football. He slipped when he went to make a tackle and gave away the penalty.

"But you get rewards when you put the shift in and we did that for 90 minutes."

The former Arsenal FC goalkeeper was recalled to the starting XI following a spell on the bench under former boss Jaap Stam, who had opted to play Anssi Jaakola instead.

But Mannone insisted he always felt like the first-choice keeper and said there were no hard feelings between him and Jaakola.

“I was always motivated,” he asserted. Nothing has changed.

“I haven’t been dropped for bad mistakes or because of poor performances.

“The gaffer just wanted to change and try something else because we weren’t getting any wins.

“I just kept going. I felt I saw still the number one and I was ready to take my chance again.

“Now I need to keep working hard and improve for the team, that’s my only aim.”

Royals’ first win in nine league games came in front of a rocking Madejski Stadium.

Bracknell News:

The Reading FC squad swarm around Vito Mannone after his match-defining save.

More than 17,000 Reading fans turned up on the night and Mannone said the players were delighted to see the supporters go home happy.

“The unity and the effort was great,” he concluded.

“It was a massive game, one of the most important games this season.

“We needed to deliver, we watched the results before the game.

“It was the first of eight games where we need to pick up the points and it was so important to give the home crowd something to cheer about.

“I’m sure the fans are with us now and we need to go forward as a unit.

“The manager came in and said we can get eight wins. I believe mentality is one of the most important things in football and we showed it.”