Yakub-who? For David Moyes, it has been a season of vindication and here was another piece. Everton tightened their hold on a Champions League spot without Yakubu, their top scorer, omitted as punishment for returning late from the African Cup of Nations.

In truth it was a grisly struggle - “ugly?” said Moyes, “that was like Quasimodo” – but victory came when Dave Kitson cleared a corner, Leon Osman lobbed the ball back into the area and Phil Jagielka nodded beyond Marcus Hahnemann. Reading appealed for offside but Marek Matejovsky, dawdling as colleagues pushed out, played Jagielka on. The defender had his first league goal for the club and Everton had three points. And Moyes had made his.

“I’ve not decided on that,” said the Scot, when asked if Yakubu had done his time and would be considered for Wednesday’s Uefa Cup game against Brann. The Moyes approach is tough love and it’s how Everton treated their supporters, who arrived expecting a straightforward day at the end of which further pressure would be exerted on Liverpool.

Instead, they had to sit through a splish-splosh of skewed passes, sliced crosses, and miscued shots to arrive at that outcome. It was the kind of game to make you think that perhaps touring our clubs round the world and showing supporters in far-off countries Premier League football in the flesh is not necessarily a good idea. This was a game that needed the airbrushing effect of television.

The first half featured one noteworthy incident – and that was a tackle. Stephen Hunt was livid when Lee Carsley, steaming in high and heedlessly, caught his knee and it took a gang of teammates, and a word from Mark Halsey, the referee, to calm down Hunt.

Reading made the more positive beginning and Hunt rammed an early free kick through Everton’s wall to have Tim Howard scrambling. Kitson headed close and John Oster plopped another free kick on to the top of Howard’s net but, as you would expect of a side whose recent progress has all been downwards, when they could not capitalise on their initial flourish Reading’s confidence started to drain.

Moyes suggested the pitch was a factor in Everton’s poor passing. It took until the final five minutes of the period for Hahnemann to be menaced. Soon after, Tim Cahill headed a corner just over and the Australian had another opportunity, as a result of the best, and indeed the only truly subtle, move of the half. Some quick Everton exchanges brought Osman to the by-line and he cut back the ball, but it bobbled and Cahill’s shot screwed into the stand.

The second half was an improvement, thanks in main to the impetus provided by Everton’s young substitute, James Vaughan. Within moments of his introduction, Vaughan played a menacing ball across an open goal and Cahill was no more than an extra boot size away from getting a toe to it. Kitson nearly connected in almost as good a position when Hunt headed Oster’s centre back across goal but then Jagielka scored and Everton had control.

Thomas Gravesen, watching in the directors’ box, sprang to his feet in appreciation of one piece of footwork from Mikel Arteta and Vaughan thrilled when he flicked the ball up for himself and pulled off an overhead kick from 20 yards out, in a movement so acrobatic it looked straight from a computer game.

“James gave us the lift we needed. We were flat, we just didn’t get going until he came on,” said Moyes. “He’s brilliant at giving the team a lift. His attitude is terrific. He’s got it in abundance and he’s getting stronger, he’s getting quicker, and there’s still a lot of technical things to put into him because he missed over a year of football with injuries.”

Those included a severed artery and a dislocated shoulder, but perhaps the luck is turning for a striker who does not turn 20 until August. Vaughan, of course, usurped Wayne Rooney’s position as the youngest scorer in Everton’s history, and while he does not have Rooney’s potential, he has got something about him and it is not inconceivable the two might one day be colleagues in an England squad.

Things ended with a sudden glut of incident, quite out of character with the rest of the game.

Jagielka, with an intervention almost as important as his goal, blocked Jimmy Kebe’s shot after the Reading substitute went ona direct and pacy 40-yard run and looked certain to score. Andy Johnson, who wasted a first-half opportunity when sent clear on the counterattack by a lovely touch from Arteta, found himself played in by a flick from Vaughan and rounded Hahnemann but could not improve on his miserable scoring record in open play.

“I really thought we deserved something from the game but then again I think that every week, even when we’re rubbish,” Steve Coppell said. “It was our best performance for some time and I’m very confident that next season we will be in the Premier League.” It is just as well someone is.

Star man: Phil Jagielka (Everton)

Player ratings. Everton: Howard 6, Neville 5, Lescott 6, Jagielka 7, Yobo 6, Arteta 6, Carsley 5, Fernandes 4 (Vaughan 45min, 7), Osman 6, Johnson 5, Cahill 6

Reading: Hahnemann 6, Murty 6, Shorey 6, Sonko 6, Cisse 6, Harper 5, Matejovsky 6, Hunt 5, Oster 5 (Kebe 81min), Kitson 5 (Long 75min) Doyle 5

Scorer: Everton: Jagielka 62

Referee: M Halsey

Attendance: 36,582