De’Jaune Taylor-Crossdale stepped off the bench to convert the winning penalty against Liverpool and send Reading into the Semi-Finals of The FA Youth Cup for the first time in their history.
The visitors had fought back from 2-0 down to make it 2-2 at the end of the 90 minutes - before racing into a 4-2 lead in extra time.
But with the game seemingly slipping away, Reading clawed back two last-gasp goals to send the tie to a penalty shoot out.
And Taylor-Crossdale had the final say, stroking home the decisive kick after Liverpool’s Cameron Brannagan missed his spot kick.
Reading 4-4 Liverpool
After extra-time
Reading win 5-4 on penalties
The FA Youth Cup
Sixth Round Proper
Wednesday 12 March
Madejski Stadium
By Luke Edney
Harry Cardwell’s brace either side of the interval had given the Royals a comfortable two-goal cushion. His first was a superbly taken low effort under Liverpool 'keeper Ryan Crump while the second came after good work from Nana Owusu down the left-hand side.
But in the 83rd minute, the visitors halved the deficit when Jordan William struck a powerful effort that 'keeper Lewis Ward couldn’t quite keep out. And it seemed that Reading were going to hang on until Jordan Rossiter grabbed an injury time leveler.
With the game entering extra time, the home side were slow to get started and the visitors went ahead in the 95th minute as Daniel Trickett-Smith found space in the box and fired his side in front for the first time on the night.
Harry Wilson, who put in an impressive performance, doubled the visitor’s lead right on half time. The left winger got in behind the Royals back line and toe-poked his effort past the on rushing 'keeper.
From 2-0 up, the home side had now conceded four goals in a row and found themselves heading out of The Cup - but there was yet more drama to come.
First Taylor-Crossdale gave the home crowd hope as he slid in to score with three minutes left of extra time.
And then, as Liverpool tried to hang on, defender George McLennan was the hero as his last-gasp goal sent the game to penalties. Brannagan was the only man to miss in the shoot-out, meaning Taylor-Crossdale’s effort ended the shoot-out 5-4.
Reading will now meet either Fulham or Huddersfield Town in their Semi-Final.
