Source: Daily_Mail
Manchester City 1 Reading 0: Micah Richards to the rescue
It has not worked out quite how the sponsors would have wanted, but the noisy neighbours will still meet on neutral territory.[LNB]Thanks to the second-half bullet header from Micah Richards that ended plucky Reading's challenge, Manchester City will square up to Manchester United in what would have been the ultimate final but what promises, nevertheless, to be a stunning last-four showdown.[LNB]So much will be riding on the outcome when these two clubs go head-to-head at Wembley in mid- April. Never mind local bragging rights, the outcome of the latest round of this particular squabble could define each club's season.[LNB] Magic Micah: Manchester City hero Richards (second left) celebrates his goal[LNB]Should City prevail, there would be so many positive spin-offs. Aside from having a glorious opportunity to win their first major trophy since 1976, they would gain the belief that they belong in the big time and clear a major psychological hurdle.[LNB]Every time they have played United in recent years, City have lost the games that mattered in the final moments. Michael Owen and Paul Scholes were the beneficiaries in the Barclays Premier League last season, and Wayne Rooney stopped City going to the 2010 Carling Cup final.[LNB]There would also be the added spice for Roberto Mancini and Co of potentially denying Sir Alex Ferguson a second Treble. If United were to win, though, it could be that they will feel they have a stranglehold over the blue half of the city that will never be loosened.[LNB] Bullet: Richards (left) leaps highest to head home[LNB]For all the vast sums of money spent in the Sheik Mansour era, the only currency City want to be judged on is trophies. Merge in their desperation to emerge from United's shadow and you get a sense of how important this semi-final will be to them. With the draw made just prior to kick-off, perhaps the sense of how close they were to facing United weighed heavily on City's shoulders during the first half but, whatever it was, they found it almost impossible to establish any kind of meaningful rhythm.[LNB]The more City laboured, the more agitated Mancini became. Impatiently pacing his technical area, he squawked orders and gesticulated furiously towards open spaces but the more he implored, the less his players seemed to listen.[LNB]Only the elegant David Silva and he industrious Nigel de Jong came close to the standards expected. Silva, in particular, was a joy to watch and the terrific passes he supplied to Shaun Wright-Phillips (twice) and Yaya Toure deserved more than to be hammered straight at Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.[LNB]One of those days: Manchester City star David Silva rues yet another missed chance[LNB]Yet, to say that the score remainedlevel at the interval simply because of City's inadequacies would begrossly unfair to Reading. As had been the case when they knocked outEverton in the fifth round, Reading were diligent, determined anddoughty. Every time City tried to thread an attack together, men inblack shirts swarmed around the ball. On the rare occasions City gotsight of McCarthy's goal, they found him in similarly obdurate mood.[LNB]That defiance continued after the break. Jay Tabb cleared Vincent Kompany's header off the line, then McCarthy spread himself superbly after Silva and Carlos Tevez combined thrillingly to create a chance for the Argentine. All the while, the level of tension in the ground became more palpable.[LNB] [LNB] Heart in mouth moment: Joleon Lescott (right) deflects the ball just wide of his own goal[LNB]MATCH ZONESTAR MAN: David Silva.[LNB]MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Hart 6;Richards 7, Kompany 6, Lescott 7,Kolarov 6; Vieira 5 (Balotelli 70min, 6),De Jong 7 (Barry 83); Wright-Phillips 7(Boyata 90), Y Toure 6, Silva 8; Tevez 7.Subs not used: S Taylor, Dzeko, Jo, Razak.[LNB]READING (4-4-2): McCarthy 7; Karacan 7,Gunnarsson 7, Khizanishvilli 7, Harte 7;Kebe 6, Leigertwood 6, Tabb 7 (Howard 86), McAnuff 7 (Robson-Kanu 62, 6); Long 6, Hunt 6 (Church 76).Subs not used: Andersen, J Taylor,Antonio, Griffin.[LNB]Referee: Lee Probert 6[LNB]MAN CITY READING7.................... Shots on target....................16.................... Shots off target....................3503......................Passes.........................32079%............Passing success............. 67%60%.................Possession.................. 40%[LNB]Then came the breakthrough. Silva,inevitably, was the provider, and Richards met his outswinging cornerwith a header that sped into the roof of the net. Not surprisingly, itwas met with an explosion of relief and the sense that City had bookedtheir first trip to Wembley since 1999 a dramatic Second Divisionplay-off final against Gillingham.[LNB]'If Tevez had beaten five of my playersor Silva had come up with a piece of magic, you could have accepted itbut that was difficult to take,' lamented Reading manager BrianMcDermott. 'All the talent they have got and we get done by a set play.'[LNB]As City fans celebrated with thebacks-to-the-pitch dance that has become the craze in these parts,Mancini made a point of joining his players and warmly embracedRichards to show there was no hangover from their dressing-room row inKiev on Thursday night.[LNB]'We're all happy,' said Richards later.[LNB] 'We talked about the Kiev game and tempers were raised because we lost 2-0 and nobody was happy. We've put that right.'[LNB]Now there is something else for City to put right. Having lost six of the past eight meetings with United, they go into the game as underdogs.[LNB]If City are going to clear the formidable red obstacle that blocks their path to set up a date with either Stoke or Bolton on May 14, a performance with more polish than this will be required. Should they do that, then the noisy neighbours really will have something to shout about.[LNB][LNB] [LNB] [LNB] No way past: Yaya Toure (right) sees his shot saved by Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy[LNB] [LNB] Stoke 2 West Ham 1: Higginbotham strike books Bolton semi at WembleyFA CUP SEMI-FINAL DRAW: United await potential City clash at WembleyAdebayor pleads with FA to take leniency over City team-mate Toure Clubs will struggle to find the next Giggs and Scholes, says Vieira[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People: David Silva, Alex Ferguson, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Carlos Tevez, Paul Scholes, Vincent Kompany, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Jay Tabb
