Adam Le Fondre had not scored in 10 games but his two second-half goals earned Reading their first league win of the season and left David Moyes "as pissed off as ever" after his side dropped out of the top four.

"At the start of the season we were in great positions in some games, in winning positions, but not able to hold on," Le Fondre said. "I think today the boys defended magnificently from one to 11 and [Adam] Federici and the back four were magnificent."

Asked if his manager, Brian McDermott, gave the Reading players a stern telling off at half-time, he added: "He very rarely rants and raves. He just demands better from us and he demands better from ourselves as a team and in the second half we showed what we are about."

Reading were trailing to a 10th-minute Steven Naismith goal at half-time and were lucky to still be in the contest. Abysmal defending from their centre-halves, Sean Morrison and Kaspars Gorkss, allowed Marouane Fellaini space to divert the ball into the path of Naismith, who prodded home from close range.

Everton should have built on their lead but instead proceeded to waste a number of excellent scoring opportunities before the referee, Martin Atkinson, denied them a clear penalty when Nikica Jelavic's drive hit the arm of Morrison inside the area.

Moyes said: "We should have done better and won the game. I need to find a way of getting more goals. Our play was meriting more goals but we didn't get them. We were getting in good positions. Our play has been excellent but we are just not looking like we are going to get three or four goals at the moment. We should be but we are not."

The Everton manager confirmed that Phil Neville will be out for six to eight weeks after undergoing a knee operation on Friday. "Phil Neville is a real blow because of the leadership and the way he drives the team forward. It will be a big blow. We've got Phil Jagielka, Leon Osman, John Heitinga – all really experienced players. They have to take up the mantle when Phil is away," he said.

Le Fondre equalised after 51 minutes with a fine header from Nicky Shorey's free-kick before Seamus Coleman inexplicably went through the back of the former Rotherham forward to concede a penalty.

The 25-year-old admitted that he was cramping up before dispatching the shot past Tim Howard, but McDermott, wearing a suit instead of his usual tracksuit, was unaware of the situation until withdrawing Le Fondre after 81 minutes.

"I'm glad he didn't tell me that, I would have panicked," he said. "It's great for him, absolutely great for him. I'm delighted, he's a great guy. He thinks he belongs and he belongs."

Reading moved out of the bottom three and McDermott was pleased to finally break the duck. "If you consider we've played 11 games and got seven results, we've lost four games in this league and this is not an easy league to get results in. We have to do things a different way here, we haven't got the money that other clubs have got, so we do things differently. It's a real, real big result."

Man of the match: Adam Le Fondre (Reading)