The only goal of in uninspiring game came in the 15th minute. Carlos Bocanegra lost possession when harried by Dave Kitson and the ball ran free to Reading's South Korean winger Ki-Hyeon Seol.
His right-wing cross found Kevin Doyle, who turned the ball back across the face of goal for Stephen Hunt to fire home from close range.
It was not the only time Fulham had lost possession in defence as Reading were quicker to the ball and the story was little better up front for the Londoners, where they wasted some good chances.
The worst culprit was Ian Pearce, who blazed over with the goal at his mercy shortly before leaving the field with a recurrence of a knee injury.
Both sides had goals disallowed for offside and, in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the game, Fulham skipper Michael Brown came so close to snatching the equaliser. He skimmed the bar with a shot which had beaten Reading keeper Marcus Hahnemann.
It might have been just reward for Fulham's second-half comeback which saw them stretch Reading's defence at times and will give Sanchez some encouragement on the short drive back to his Reading home.
He first joined Reading as a schoolboy and made his first-team debut while still at school. Because he lives in the area he is a regular visitor to the Madejski Stadium and Reading boss Steve Coppell joked: "He's always here. He's probably watched us more than any other Premiership manager."
Previous knowledge will not have helped Sanchez too much as Coppell rang the changes with his team, leaving out midfield man Steve Sidwell, who looks set to leave at the end of the season. At least four other first team regulars were missing through injury and striker Leroy Lita was starting a three-match ban.
Coppell has made it clear that as far as he is concerned the time has come to look forward to next season and with that in mind he will continue to make changes to the side while he assesses the players he has and decides which gaps he needs to fill.