George Puscas marked his first Championship start with a marvellous brace as Reading defeated Cardiff City 3-0 at the Madejski Stadium.

Romania forward Puscas, signed from Inter earlier this month, scored his first goal for the club in the midweek EFL Cup fixture against Wycombe Wanderers and was on target again on Sunday.

Puscas opened the scoring with a fine individual effort, finishing a run from the halfway line by jinking inside Will Vaulks on the right flank and bending his shot past Alex Smithies.

He added a second five minutes before the break by getting in front of his marker to turn home John Swift's centre and Puscas should have had a hat-trick when he slotted wide one-on-one on the counter-attack in the closing stages.

Swift did finish a breakaway goal seven minutes from time and, although Yakou Meite missed a late penalty, Reading's first win of the season sees them climb to 17th, two spots ahead of Cardiff, after three matches.