On this Day: Yakou Meite nets four-goal haul in Luton mauling behind-closed-doors

On this day in 2020, Reading earned their first win of 'Operation Restart' in emphatic fashion, thrashing Luton Town 5-0 at Kenilworth Road.

The Royals, under the management of current Director of Football Mark Bowen, had hopes of a late play-off push up until the return from a Covid-19 enforced break.

Two defeats and a draw in the first three back in action put to bed any late promotion hopes- finishing as high as possible becoming the new goal.

Luton, back in the second tier for the first time in over 15 years, struggled during 2019/20 and was meant to be an exciting new away day for supporters had the pandemic not hit.

Yakou Meite, enjoying his best season in a Reading shirt, was forced to celebrate his four-goal haul without 10,000 supporters crammed into the ramshackled home of the Hatters.

The Ivorian bagged a hattrick inside 35 minutes before George Puscas grabbed himself a goal just before the hour mark.

Meite had the final say, picking up the only four-goal haul of his career, five minutes later.

Winning just once more in the final five fixtures, Bowen led the club to a 14th-place finish in the Championship before being dropped in favour of Veljko Paunovic.

Nathan Jones' Luton won three and drew their other two in the final five to stay in the league on the final day.

Within three years, the Bedfordshire-based outfit would reach the Premier League to complete their dramatic rise from the fifth tier to the top in the last decade-and-a-half.