John Swift's first Championship goal of the season goal came from his 42nd attempt on goal
Lowly Reading edged a turgid match to earn a first win in 11 games against managerless Nottingham Forest, who ended the contest with nine men.
John Swift scored the only goal of a lame first half when he arrived late in the box to sweep in Mo Barrow's fine pull-back from the right.
Forest, under the caretaker charge of Simon Ireland following Aitor Karanka's departure on Friday, rarely threatened.
Their hopes were hit when Danny Fox was sent off after 62 minutes for a second caution before Tendayi Darikwa was also dismissed for a dangerous tackle late on.
A miserable afternoon was rounded off when Jack Robinson put through his own net with three minutes to go.
Reading's victory was hardly comprehensive, but will be a huge relief to Jose Gomes, who secured a first win as manager in his fifth game in charge.
The result still leaves the Royals in the relegation zone but they move up a place to third from bottom and are now only two points adrift from safety.
Forest, who drop to ninth after a third league defeat in five, were poor from the outset, with a blocked Matty Cash strike their only noteworthy effort until Daryl Murphy's hooked attempt went over soon after the restart.
Reading defended in numbers after Swift's well-taken opener and only started to get on top and regularly threaten after Danny Fox saw red for a second yellow card just after the hour in an increasingly fiery match.
Ben Osborn did have a goal disallowed for the visitors for pushing but their hopes all but ended when Darikwa was sent off for a nasty late foul on Danny Loader.
Caretaker boss Simon Ireland was a first-team coach under Aitor Karanka
Reading manager Jose Gomes told BBC Radio Berkshire:
"I liked the result a lot. The performance could maybe have been better, but the most important thing is that we got three very, very important points.
"This is the start of a very important run of 19 games for us and hopefully this gives us the confidence to look up the table and ask ourselves why we aren't there.
"Today the players really absorbed my philosophy with some energy, they accepted the idea that we must be more clinical.
"Now it's a case of keeping that focus, resting up and recharging before the next very, very important game."
Nottingham Forest caretaker manager Simon Ireland:
"It was impossible for the last 24 hours not to have had an effect on the players and we didn't start the game as we wanted to.
"For an experienced player like Danny [Fox] to get involved in an argument, when already on a yellow card, was disappointing. He was a bit naive. Both Danny and Tendayi have apologised to both myself and the other players in the dressing room.
"It was just a bad day today, but we are more than capable of getting back into the play-offs."
