West Brom, who are in fine form, defeated Reading 1-0 to move within a point of the playoff zone and make it eight wins in their previous nine Championship games.
At The Hawthorns, Daryl Dike's goal on the hour mark separated the teams, but the Baggies could have been in the lead by halftime if they had taken advantage of their opportunities.
The outcome, on a day when home supporters continued to demonstrate against owner Guochuan Lai with a second-half display of mobile phone lights, meant that Albion had gone 877 minutes without giving up a goal in open play.
Beginning aggressively against the visitors, West Brom had a chance to lead by five goals by the 15th minute. The hosts surrounded the Royals' goal after Okay Yokuslu's 25-yard drive went just wide.
They forced goalkeeper Joe Lumley to make three saves and kept Reading center back Scott Dann, 35, who was playing his first game in 273 days after suffering a long-term hamstring injury, on his toes.
After Jed Wallace's cross was deflected into his path by Dike, Lumley made a one-handed stop to his left to block Jayson Molumby's point-blank shot.
After Dike flicked on Wallace's corner, Conor Townsend headed into the foot of the post before his shot, deflected off Andy Yiadom, was tipped away. Before Dike's near-post header from John Swift's corner was pulled upward by Lumley, the American only needed a harder touch to convert Matt Phillips' cross.
As the Baggies searched for the opening goal, former Reading forwards Swift and Dike both failed to hit the target with their attempts.
Up until the 31st minute, when Junior Hoilett's shot was expertly denied by goalkeeper Alex Palmer on the line following Yakou Meite's cross, Reading's attack went unnoticed. Albion promptly resumed their offensive effort, but Dike's looping header from Townsend's cross missed the target.
After a move started from the back by a pass from Dara O'Shea, Dike got in front of Yiadom and met Molumby's cross with a diving header to beat Lumley. This was the goal Albion had been threatening.
The 22-year-second old's goal of the year turned out to be his last significant performance since six minutes later, Brandon Thomas-Asante came off the bench to replace him.
Following a brilliant run and cross by Wallace, who outran Yiadom and Amadou Mbengue before eluding Lumley, Thomas-Asante nearly added to the score but missed the net by inches.
Reading had hardly produced any chances during the game, but things changed in the closing stages.
After Tom McIntyre flicked on Tom Ince's corner, Baba Rahman, a fellow replacement, nodded in from close range after Lucas Joao's rising shot was deflected over the crossbar. Albion, however, clung on honorably to go on their remarkable run.
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