Sluggish City set-up Wembley derby
Posted Monday, March 14, 2011 by UK.eurosport.yahoo.com
Manchester City booked an FA Cup semi-final derby against Manchester United with a laboured 1-0 win against Reading at Eastlands.
Micah Richards crashed in a header to save Roberto Mancini's men the ignominy of a third replay against lower-league opponents in this season's competition.
The defender's intervention was enough to set up a Mancunian summit at Wembley next month, with the winners facing Bolton or Stoke in the final.
The significance of the result was far greater than the City performance, which was sluggish and bad-tempered.
At one stage referee Lee Probert pointed Carlos Tevez to the word 'respect' on his captain's armband after a particularly childish fit of pique.
City arrived back from their Europa League trip to Dynamo Kiev at 5am on Friday, and played like a side in need of a good night's sleep.
Mario Balotelli was consigned to the bench after his run-in with the Ukrainian grass, but Tevez, David Silva and Yaya Toure - City's three best attackers this season - all started.
Reading manager Brian McDermott was without captain and ex-City player Matt Mills, the latest addition to a lengthy defensive injury list - the versatile Brynjar Gunnarson replaced Mills.
City were content to play at a slow tempo, which meant they dominated possession but struggled to create openings.
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