Harry Wilson scored twice and was involved in four other goals as Fulham hit seven at Reading to return to second place in the Championship.

Wilson scored in either half, either side of an Aleksandar Mitrovic penalty in first-half injury time.

Kenny Tete, Neeskens Kebano, Tosin Adarabioyo and Mitrovic with his second then added to the second-half rout.

It was a first win in six matches for Fulham, who were in league action for the first time since a home defeat by Sheffield United on 20 December having had their three festive season fixtures postponed because of Covid-19 cases.

This victory saw them move to within a point of leaders Bournemouth with a game in hand and with a greatly superior goal difference following their second emphatic away win of the season.

A damaging defeat for Reading saw their winless home run stretched to seven league matches in the process as they remain perilously close to the relegation zone having now won just once in seven league games.

It also came just three days after an embarrassing FA Cup third-round exit at the hands of non-league Kidderminster Harriers, with pressure mounting on manager Veljko Paunovic.

Seventh-heaven again for Fulham

His side were on the back foot as early as the seventh minute when centre-back Scott Dann had to be substituted through injury.

Captain Josh Laurent, who moved to makeshift right-back as a result, unintentionally played in Wilson for Fulham’s opener soon after as he tried to make a pass across his own penalty area towards goalkeeper Luke Southwood.

Wilson nipped in to intercept, with Laurent seemingly unaware of his presence, and it was a simple finish into an almost empty net for his first of the night.

Reading rallied and tried to mount a response, and early substitute Mamadi Camara nearly drew them level with a neat backheel inside the area that Marek Rodak pushed behind for a corner.

Andy Carroll did have the ball in the net twice for the hosts, but both efforts were ruled offside, the first a spectacular overhead kick from Junior Hoilett’s cross and the second a well-struck half-volley from outside the box.

But that was pretty much the end of their attacking momentum as Fulham doubled their lead seconds before the break.

Tom Holmes was adjudged to have tripped Wilson in the area and Mitrovic converted for his first goal with a finish into the bottom left corner to make it 2-0.

If Fulham shaded the first half, they completely dominated the second with five more goals and Wilson heavily involved.

The Wales international made it 3-0 on the hour as he tapped home Antonee Robinson’s neat overlapping cross from the left.

Full-back Tete then flicked on Mitrovic’s powerful header from Wilson’s cross for the fourth and two minutes later he was the provider again when his low ball along the six-yard line was tapped in at the far post by Kebano for Fulham’s fifth.

Not to be done there, they still had the time and the appetite to add two more.

Centre-back Adarabioyo was left unmarked to head in a Wilson corner and then Mitrovic arrived to take his season tally to 24 Championship goals as he slotted in on the rebound after Rodrigo Muniz’s initial effort had been parried away by Southwood.

That goal meant Fulham became the first side since the 1895-96 season to win multiple away games by seven goals or more in a single season.

Royals endure ‘another horrible night’ – reaction

Reading manager Veljko Paunovic:

“It was another horrible night in what is proving to be a very hard month for us so far.

“The early setback with losing Scott Dann through injury certainly changed our shape and our approach on a night where we already had a very disrupted line-up.

“But even after that, we found it very hard to adjust, there was nervousness and frustration and we conceded an avoidable first goal and the penalty before half-time was also possibly debatable.

“After all that, to be 2-0 down at the break in all those circumstances, we were still having to contend with a very good side like Fulham.

“The third goal killed us and then unfortunately the inexperience of certain players in certain positions cost us and made it even tougher.

“It’s not a question for me to answer if I think I’ll be given enough time. It’s about the group and this team and at this time, we have been put in a very difficult position and been handed a very difficult task through no fault of our own.

“We’ve been thrown under the bus, but we have to keep going and I feel we can.

“I’ve seen people giving their all to the team and if you look back just a few months, this group produced one of its best performances to beat this Fulham team on their own ground.

“I feel there are more great moments to come from this team and we have to find inspiration from those moments.”

Fulham manager Marco Silva:

“It was a good result for us and it was an impressive performance.

“We knew before the game and we spoke about it in meetings that it would be important for us to get three points and the fans who were here this evening and came in great number, got to see and feel a great performance.

“There were some great goals and some great individual performances and it was the perfect night for us.

“We want to create lots of chances and score lots of goals and we did it in some style tonight. We were much better in the second half than we were in the first as I didn’t feel like we had full control of the game despite going in 2-0 ahead.

“There were moments where we weren’t at our best in that first half, but we were much more on it and stronger in some important details in the second half.

“This will only be a special season if we finish it with some success at the end so while it’s great to have scored seven goals twice, we know we need to see it through for the rest of the season.”