STEVE COTTERILL made it back-to-back wins thanks to his very own Jacques in the box.
Blues winger Jacques Maghoma hit a late winner in the 1-0 victory over Leeds on Saturday.
And the ex-Sheffield Wednesday ace made it two in two here as his early strike helped down Reading.
Sam Gallagher ensured the points and a first win away of the season for Birmingham with a cool second-half strike.
It lifted Brum off the bottom of the table but cranked up the heat on Royals chief Jaap Stam, whose side have now failed to win in six and are only four points off the drop zone.
Reading looked to have turned a corner at the start of December with consecutive wins over Barnsley and Sunderland.
But they threw away a 2-0 lead with ten minutes to play at home to Cardiff and then suffered a miserable Christmas period, with Stam coming under fire from some fans fed-up with his stubborn passing approach.
His side started reasonably well here with David Stockdale denying both Mo Barrow and Chris Gunter, while Sone Aluko could not beat the Brum keeper after a fine flowing move.
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But Cotterill’s side grew in confidence as their backline remained unbreached and on 24 minutes they took the lead.
Paul McShane was adjudged to have fouled Gallagher as they clashed in the air.
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And when the Reading defender failed to clear Craig Gardner’s resulting free-kick, there was man-of-the-moment Maghoma to lash into the roof of the net from 12 yards.
Gallagher has struggled for goals during his loan spell from Southampton, although a pair last month hinted at better things to come from the 22-year-old.
He should have added to that tally ten minutes before the break when set away by David Davis but could not beat Vito Mannone, before Stockdale once again repelled Aluko.
Cotterill has had it tough since replacing Harry Redknapp, with only three wins and six goals scored from his 14 games before this game.
But the team have improved defensively of late, particularly against Leeds and with ten men against Sunderland, and again they looked a far more organised unit at Madejski.
Harlee Dean has had much to do with that since being brought back into the side as captain and the ex-Brentford man went close with a header just over on 57 minutes.
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Yann Kermorgant threatened with a volley but could not beat Stockdale, who was showing why he was Championship goalkeeper of the season last term at Brighton.
The game was over on 64 minutes when Chelsea loanee Jeremie Boga fed Gallagher who confidently fired past Mannone, who looked as helpless as his manager in the dugout.
The 1,135 travelling Blues fans even saw fit to taunt their hosts with chants of “We’re winning away, how s*** must you be” and “We want three”, which almost came when Dean had a header cleared off the line towards the end.
After the season they have had, few could blame them.
The past 12 months have been an annus horribilis for Birmingham.
This was a hint that maybe, just maybe, 2018 will not be so bad.
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