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Manchester City v Reading - live!

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FA Cup Quarter-Final

Manchester City 0
Reading 0

• Jacob Steinberg
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 March 2011 15.45 GMT <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
  This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
  
  
  Unleash the grass! Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian Half-time emails.
  "Do you reckon Rooney will end up at City in the summer?" asks meTom Shaw. "Reports in one of the tabs this morning reckon all is not sweetness and light between him and The Big Man anymore and he wouldn't be missed very much. I could see both clubs thinking they'd got a bargain, Man U the 100 million and City the player." I doubt it. They're not exactly short on strikers. Plus he was excellent yesterday. It was his best performance for ages.
  Peep! Peep! Lee Probert blows for half-time. Reading will be happy. City won't be happy.
  45 min+2: Toure finds Silva on the edge of the area. He drops the shoulder and disguises a scooped pass inside Karacan which was intended for Wright-Phillips, but the accuracy isn't there and McCarthy collects.
  45 min+1: There will be a minimum of two more minutes. "The Public Sector, of course," says Craig Smaaskjaer. "I'm surprised you even have to ask."
  45 min: Silva has flirted with both the sublime and the ridiculous in this half. What a one. He's done some fantastic things at times, but this isn't one of those occasions, as he wonks a hilariously dire shot around 473 yards wide of the left post from 30 yards out.
  43 min: City are getting frustrated now. From miles out, Toure lines one up but his shot soars high into the crowd.
  41 min: "Are we watching Arsenal?" bemoans Craig Burley. "Tippy tappy, tippy tappy." He's got a point. I know. Khizanishvilli makes a mess of dealing with a pass down the inside right channel and is bundled off the ball by Toure. That wasn't much of a contest. Toure cuts it back to Tevez, who's eight yards out, but the ball just gets stuck under his feet, forcing him to lay the ball back to Wright-Phillips on the edge of the area. He takes too much time and, sure enough, Reading get the ball clear easily enough in the end. "Did you invent Tom Shaw as a means of expressing your own grief?" asks Mark Gillies. "I mean, come on - his name is almost an anagram of West Ham."
  39 min: Kolarov whelps a low cross into the six-yard box, which Khizanishvilli, facing his own goal, turns over his bar. The corner comes to nothing though.
  37 min: This, however, is sheer class from Silva, who's not really a player who's made a habit of clangers like the previous entry. The ball is sprayed out to the right flank where he's waiting. His first touch is brilliant, killing the ball with his right foot as it fell out of the sky, and enough to draw Ian Harte towards him with hope of making a tackle. But as the defender advanced, Silva, quick as you like, Messi'd the ball over his head with his left foot, a wonderfully deft piece of skill, glided into the area ... and then curled a shot straight at McCarthy. Everything but the finish, but the everything but was sumptuous.
  36 min: One for the blooper reel! Instead of shooting, Tevez dinks a fairly harmless cross into Reading's six-yard box. It's headed away to the right side of the area, where the ball falls ominously to Silva, who sets himself for the volley and then swipes at fresh air with his right foot, the ball dropping down and skewing behind off his standing foot. D'oh!
  35 min: Another free-kick to City, this time slightly to the left, but further away from goal...
  33 min: This is a case of a referee evening things up. Tevez races through the middle, before finding Silva to his right. He darts to the byline before clipping a cross towards the near post. McCarthy appears to have it covered but pats it down and Tevez steals in to shuffle the ball past the right post. And a corner is given, from which Probert gives Reading a free-kick for a fairly innocuous foul. He could have just given them the goal-kick in the first place to save us all that kerfuffle.
  29 min: McCarthy made an absolutely brilliant save in the previous round to deny Everton an equaliser and he's relishing the test City are posing him today. Silva, as you'd expect, has been at the heart of all of City's best moves, and here is again, lofting a delightful pass over the top of Reading's defence for Toure to chase. Gunnarsson was haplessly playing the midfielder onside, and Toure strode through before smacking a low drive towards goal from eight yards out McCarthy blocking with his feet. A regulation save, perhaps, but a shot that could easily have crept through his legs if he'd been less careful. I forgot to mention that Kompany was booked earlier for the foul on Hunt by the way. So sue me!
  28 min: "What industry is Craig Smaaskjaer in, may I ask?" says Jon. "I must cross it off my "alternative things to do when I get my cards" list. Unless he's the Balotelli of his workplace, of course." Craig?
  27 min: The free-kick is situated a few yards outside the D in a central position, but Kolarov's left-footed effort is poor and flies well over the bar. McCarthy gave it the most cursory of glances.
  26 min: This time Khizanishvilli is penalised for a foul on Tevez. Luckily, though, it's only a free-kick, 25 yards from goal.
  24 min: Silva is becoming more influential, and carves open the Reading defence with a sublime reverse pass into the area for Wright-Phillips, whose shot from a tight angle flies into the side netting. That was a waste. He would have needed a PHD in geometry to have scored from there. Rather than shoot, he should have waited for support to arrive from his team-mates, but that's why he's no longer in the team in the Premier League.
  23 min: "A general comment, Jacob," responds Craig Smaaskjaer. "There is nothing serious anyone can say about City's dressing room." Indeed.
  19 min: A brilliant double save from Alex McCarthy keeps the scores level! Tevez found space just outside Reading's area, and slipped a fine pass through to Wright-Phillips, who'd made a great run on the overlap. From 12 yards out, Wright-Phillips cracked a fierce shot straight at McCarthy, who could only parry the ball out in front of him. Silva arrived and tried to turn the rebound in from close range, only to see his soft dab turned behind by McCarthy's knees. He took a blow to the face there, too, McCarthy - I think it was from one of his own defenders. After a brief stoppage in play, he's fine to continue and shows no ill effects at all as he rises confidently to pluck Kolarov's corner out of the sky. Just before that chance, by the way, Reading had a really lucky escape when Khzanishvilli clipped Tevez's heels in the area and was grateful to see the striker continue his run rather than go down. These diving foreigners, eh?
  17 min: A nasty collision between Kompany and Hunt on the left touchline goes unnoticed by Lee Probert and with a gaping hole having emerged on the right of City's defence, Long suddenly finds himself with acres of space to run into. He takes advantage of it, charging into the area, but runs out of ideas as Lescott comes across. He tries a desperately unconvincing trick to beat the defender, who's having none of it.
  16 min: The best chance of the match so far, and it falls to Reading. A cross from the right evaded everyone in City's area, but swung all the way through, eventually finding its way to McAnuff on the left corner of the area. He took his time and shifted the ball on to his right foot, before floating a delicious, inswinging cross to the far post, where Hunt headed a few yards over the bar from six yards out. It was actually a fairly difficult chance as the cross was a bit too high, meaning Hunt was on the stretch when he met the cross.
  14 min: "Why is that we need to cling on to some kind of misplaced sense of security that the mood in the changing room has to be one of harmony and bliss?" asks Craig Smaaskjaer. "I bet you don't like everyone at the Guardian? I know I don't like everyone at my work. Nobody does. And sometimes, more often than not, work is conducted in a crap, stress filled and loveless atmosphere. Why should footballers be any different? We should be more worried when they are all getting along just fine. Its not right, that. But anyway, tell us who you don't like at the Guardian, Jacob. Go on. No one will ever know." I hope you don't think I was making any serious comment on City's dressing room?
  12 min: City are having plenty of trouble containing McAnuff, who makes mugs of both Richards and Wright-Phillips on the left with a lovely turn of a place, quick feet and a canny drop of the shoulder. He's so unlucky here, though, his touch into the area slightly too hard, allowing De Jong to steam across, and belt a clearance away, the ball deflecting off McAnuff and out for a City goal-kick. He's an interesting character, McAnuff, someone who's never really fulfilled his potential. I remember there being plenty of excitement when he signed for West Ham in January 2003 ... he'd left by the summer. Anyway this interview is worth a read.
  10 min: Harte misjudges a long ball from the left with Tevez nearby and ends up conceding a needless corner with a header intended for McCarthy. The corner from the right, however, is a total waste, Kolarov whipping it straight out of play, to derisive jeers from the Reading supporters.
  8 min: This has been a theme in many of City's FA Cup games this season. They haven't really got going at all - understandable, perhaps, given that they got back from Kiev at 5am on Friday morning. Tevez tries to release Kolarov down the left but completely overhits his pass, the ball rolling out for a goal-kick.
  6 min: Well, it would have been interesting if Harte hadn't hit the first man. But Reading stay on the attack and McAnuff does brilliantly to scoot past his marker on the left flank, reach the byline and drive a dangerous low cross towards the near post, Lescott forced to turn the ball behind with Reading attackers waiting behind. McAnuff takes the corner from the right, hitting it deep to the far post, where Kolarov heads away and is then clattered by Long's shoulder. He should be ok though.
  5 min: Kompany gets himself in a mess trying to deal with a long, hooked ball over to the left from Tabb. Hunt gets there first, lobs the ball over Kompany's head and is then hauled down by the Belgian. Reading have a free-kick in an interesting position.
  4 min: Richards tries to chip the ball down the line to Wright-Phillips. McAnuff gets in the way and concedes a throw-in.
  2 min: David Silva has just put a beach ball off the pitch. I'm surprised he was able to do that, Spaniards are usually flummoxed by those things. As you can probably tell, it's been a quiet start. Noel Hunt is down and receiving treatment after an accidental elbow to the face from Vincent Kompany. "On behalf of all West ham fans can I point out that the FA Cup is nowhere near as important as it used to be?" asks Tom Shaw. "In fact it's pants, not worth the bother. It lost it's glamour after 1980. I'm glad we are not burdened with it anymore. Sob, wail."
  1 min: Off we go then. Reading, in black shirts and red shorts, start the match, kicking from right to left. Very quickly, City get a goal-kick. It doesn't look like Reading have sold out their away allocation, a risible state of affairs.
  The teams are ushered out of the tunnel by the ubiquitous Rebecca Lowe, who has surely covered more ground than any of the players will during the match.
  A pointless pre-match interview. "What's the mood like going into the game?" Rebecca Lowe asks Brian Kidd. "Rubbish," replied Kidd. "I hate everyone here, they all smell, no one laughs at my jokes, we're not going to win, we're going to lose, Yaya Toure has been stuffing grass in Mario's face, Mario can't stop sneezing and I want to go back to Manchester United. SurAlex?" "Very good," replies Kidd.
  Stubbs, Savage and Allardyce are walking round the pitch, talking and previewing the game. This is very weird. Allardyce appears to be trying very hard not to break out into a fit of giggles. They've just walked half the length of the pitch!
  Mike Summerbee's back just been interviewed on ESPN. Strangely Rebecca Lowe decided not to ask him about the prospect of City playing Manchester United in the semi-final. I wonder why.
  It's the dream tie we've all been dreaming of in our dreams! Bolton v Stoke City!
  Oh, and Manchester City or Reading v Manchester United.
  Ray, Stubbs, Sam Allardyce and Robbie Savage are standing on the touchline at Eastlands. "Looking sharp, Robbie," says Stubbs. Savage nods smugly and then goes on to riff on Arsenal's pain.
  Afternoon. You might have heard about this before. At Old Trafford, there's a banner in the Stretford End which ticks away signifying how long it's been since Manchester City last won a trophy. 1976! It's a drought that would put Elijah to shame and it's about time City did something about it. Their Arab riches have transformed them beyond all recognition since 2008, but still, the suspicion remains that they don't belong among the elite. Not yet, anyway. In a way, winning the FA Cup is slightly overrated. It's a day out, something for supporters to cherish, but you don't actually get anything for lifting the trophy. There's no Champions League football at the end of it, so for City, this is hardly the overriding priority. And yet, as David Brent once said, money don't make my world go round. Money can buy you brand new players and attract a shiny new Italian manager, but it can't change a mentality at a club.
  Ultimately City, unlike their neighbours still have the whiff of losers, harsh as that may be. They're inconsistent, they've been known to brawl on the training ground, and while it's not the most pressing of issues, they have a footballer who revealed an allergy to grass last Thursday. Chelsea were much the same until Jose Mourinho arrived. True, they already had Champions League football, but there was still an loveable, self-destructive streak coursing through the club, as demonstrated when they contrived to lose a Champions League semi-final to Monaco in 2004. When Mourinho arrived at the end of that season, he made sure he won a trophy as soon as possible. It was only the Carling Cup, but it mattered. He got it. City must hope Mancini does too.
  First, however, they have to overcome the considerable challenge Reading will set them this afternoon. They did it to Liverpool last season and they did it to Everton this season. Will City be the latest victims of a giant-killing? On the surface, Reading shouldn't have much of a chance. They are, after all, 10th in the Championship and City are third in the Premier League, but they have every reason to believe they can cause another upset here. Reading were hugely impressive against Everton, tenacious, organised and dangerous on the break. At Goodison Park, several of their players gave exemplary performances, with Alex McCarthy, Matthew Mills, Mikele Leigertwood, Jay Tabb and Shane Long all catching the eye. For Brian McDermott, the message is simple: same again please.
  Team news. Manchester City line up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation, with wee SWP given a rare run-out. Patrick Vieira, who has the turning time of a wardrobe, starts in midfield, while Yaya Toure, who has the strength and build of a wardrobe, will fit in behind Carlos Tevez. Edin Dzeko and Horticulture's Mario Balotelli are on the bench. As for Reading, their line up has an attacking feel to it, perhaps just as well given the defensive injuries they have.
  Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Vieira, De Jong; Wright-Phillips, Yaya Toure, Silva; Tevez. Subs: Taylor, Boyata, Barry, Razak, Balotelli, Dzeko, Jo.
  
  Reading (4-4-2): McCarthy; Karacan, Gunnarsson, Khizanishvili, Harte; Kebe, Tabb, Leigertwood, McAnuff; Long, Hunt. Subs: Andersen, Griffin, Antonio, Church, Robson-Kanu, Howard, Taylor.
  
  Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)
  
  

 

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Manchester City v Reading - live!

• Turn on our auto-refresh tool for the latest updates
• Email jacob.steinberg.casual@guardian.co.uk here
• Click here to find out the latest scores today
• Follow Jacob on Twitter, if that's your thing

• Min-by-min
• Match facts
• Ratings

FA Cup Quarter-Final

Manchester City 0
Reading 0

• Jacob Steinberg
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 13 March 2011 15.45 GMT <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
  This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
  
  
  Unleash the grass! Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian Half-time emails.
  "Do you reckon Rooney will end up at City in the summer?" asks meTom Shaw. "Reports in one of the tabs this morning reckon all is not sweetness and light between him and The Big Man anymore and he wouldn't be missed very much. I could see both clubs thinking they'd got a bargain, Man U the 100 million and City the player." I doubt it. They're not exactly short on strikers. Plus he was excellent yesterday. It was his best performance for ages.
  Peep! Peep! Lee Probert blows for half-time. Reading will be happy. City won't be happy.
  45 min+2: Toure finds Silva on the edge of the area. He drops the shoulder and disguises a scooped pass inside Karacan which was intended for Wright-Phillips, but the accuracy isn't there and McCarthy collects.
  45 min+1: There will be a minimum of two more minutes. "The Public Sector, of course," says Craig Smaaskjaer. "I'm surprised you even have to ask."
  45 min: Silva has flirted with both the sublime and the ridiculous in this half. What a one. He's done some fantastic things at times, but this isn't one of those occasions, as he wonks a hilariously dire shot around 473 yards wide of the left post from 30 yards out.
  43 min: City are getting frustrated now. From miles out, Toure lines one up but his shot soars high into the crowd.
  41 min: "Are we watching Arsenal?" bemoans Craig Burley. "Tippy tappy, tippy tappy." He's got a point. I know. Khizanishvilli makes a mess of dealing with a pass down the inside right channel and is bundled off the ball by Toure. That wasn't much of a contest. Toure cuts it back to Tevez, who's eight yards out, but the ball just gets stuck under his feet, forcing him to lay the ball back to Wright-Phillips on the edge of the area. He takes too much time and, sure enough, Reading get the ball clear easily enough in the end. "Did you invent Tom Shaw as a means of expressing your own grief?" asks Mark Gillies. "I mean, come on - his name is almost an anagram of West Ham."
  39 min: Kolarov whelps a low cross into the six-yard box, which Khizanishvilli, facing his own goal, turns over his bar. The corner comes to nothing though.
  37 min: This, however, is sheer class from Silva, who's not really a player who's made a habit of clangers like the previous entry. The ball is sprayed out to the right flank where he's waiting. His first touch is brilliant, killing the ball with his right foot as it fell out of the sky, and enough to draw Ian Harte towards him with hope of making a tackle. But as the defender advanced, Silva, quick as you like, Messi'd the ball over his head with his left foot, a wonderfully deft piece of skill, glided into the area ... and then curled a shot straight at McCarthy. Everything but the finish, but the everything but was sumptuous.
  36 min: One for the blooper reel! Instead of shooting, Tevez dinks a fairly harmless cross into Reading's six-yard box. It's headed away to the right side of the area, where the ball falls ominously to Silva, who sets himself for the volley and then swipes at fresh air with his right foot, the ball dropping down and skewing behind off his standing foot. D'oh!
  35 min: Another free-kick to City, this time slightly to the left, but further away from goal...
  33 min: This is a case of a referee evening things up. Tevez races through the middle, before finding Silva to his right. He darts to the byline before clipping a cross towards the near post. McCarthy appears to have it covered but pats it down and Tevez steals in to shuffle the ball past the right post. And a corner is given, from which Probert gives Reading a free-kick for a fairly innocuous foul. He could have just given them the goal-kick in the first place to save us all that kerfuffle.
  29 min: McCarthy made an absolutely brilliant save in the previous round to deny Everton an equaliser and he's relishing the test City are posing him today. Silva, as you'd expect, has been at the heart of all of City's best moves, and here is again, lofting a delightful pass over the top of Reading's defence for Toure to chase. Gunnarsson was haplessly playing the midfielder onside, and Toure strode through before smacking a low drive towards goal from eight yards out McCarthy blocking with his feet. A regulation save, perhaps, but a shot that could easily have crept through his legs if he'd been less careful. I forgot to mention that Kompany was booked earlier for the foul on Hunt by the way. So sue me!
  28 min: "What industry is Craig Smaaskjaer in, may I ask?" says Jon. "I must cross it off my "alternative things to do when I get my cards" list. Unless he's the Balotelli of his workplace, of course." Craig?
  27 min: The free-kick is situated a few yards outside the D in a central position, but Kolarov's left-footed effort is poor and flies well over the bar. McCarthy gave it the most cursory of glances.
  26 min: This time Khizanishvilli is penalised for a foul on Tevez. Luckily, though, it's only a free-kick, 25 yards from goal.
  24 min: Silva is becoming more influential, and carves open the Reading defence with a sublime reverse pass into the area for Wright-Phillips, whose shot from a tight angle flies into the side netting. That was a waste. He would have needed a PHD in geometry to have scored from there. Rather than shoot, he should have waited for support to arrive from his team-mates, but that's why he's no longer in the team in the Premier League.
  23 min: "A general comment, Jacob," responds Craig Smaaskjaer. "There is nothing serious anyone can say about City's dressing room." Indeed.
  19 min: A brilliant double save from Alex McCarthy keeps the scores level! Tevez found space just outside Reading's area, and slipped a fine pass through to Wright-Phillips, who'd made a great run on the overlap. From 12 yards out, Wright-Phillips cracked a fierce shot straight at McCarthy, who could only parry the ball out in front of him. Silva arrived and tried to turn the rebound in from close range, only to see his soft dab turned behind by McCarthy's knees. He took a blow to the face there, too, McCarthy - I think it was from one of his own defenders. After a brief stoppage in play, he's fine to continue and shows no ill effects at all as he rises confidently to pluck Kolarov's corner out of the sky. Just before that chance, by the way, Reading had a really lucky escape when Khzanishvilli clipped Tevez's heels in the area and was grateful to see the striker continue his run rather than go down. These diving foreigners, eh?
  17 min: A nasty collision between Kompany and Hunt on the left touchline goes unnoticed by Lee Probert and with a gaping hole having emerged on the right of City's defence, Long suddenly finds himself with acres of space to run into. He takes advantage of it, charging into the area, but runs out of ideas as Lescott comes across. He tries a desperately unconvincing trick to beat the defender, who's having none of it.
  16 min: The best chance of the match so far, and it falls to Reading. A cross from the right evaded everyone in City's area, but swung all the way through, eventually finding its way to McAnuff on the left corner of the area. He took his time and shifted the ball on to his right foot, before floating a delicious, inswinging cross to the far post, where Hunt headed a few yards over the bar from six yards out. It was actually a fairly difficult chance as the cross was a bit too high, meaning Hunt was on the stretch when he met the cross.
  14 min: "Why is that we need to cling on to some kind of misplaced sense of security that the mood in the changing room has to be one of harmony and bliss?" asks Craig Smaaskjaer. "I bet you don't like everyone at the Guardian? I know I don't like everyone at my work. Nobody does. And sometimes, more often than not, work is conducted in a crap, stress filled and loveless atmosphere. Why should footballers be any different? We should be more worried when they are all getting along just fine. Its not right, that. But anyway, tell us who you don't like at the Guardian, Jacob. Go on. No one will ever know." I hope you don't think I was making any serious comment on City's dressing room?
  12 min: City are having plenty of trouble containing McAnuff, who makes mugs of both Richards and Wright-Phillips on the left with a lovely turn of a place, quick feet and a canny drop of the shoulder. He's so unlucky here, though, his touch into the area slightly too hard, allowing De Jong to steam across, and belt a clearance away, the ball deflecting off McAnuff and out for a City goal-kick. He's an interesting character, McAnuff, someone who's never really fulfilled his potential. I remember there being plenty of excitement when he signed for West Ham in January 2003 ... he'd left by the summer. Anyway this interview is worth a read.
  10 min: Harte misjudges a long ball from the left with Tevez nearby and ends up conceding a needless corner with a header intended for McCarthy. The corner from the right, however, is a total waste, Kolarov whipping it straight out of play, to derisive jeers from the Reading supporters.
  8 min: This has been a theme in many of City's FA Cup games this season. They haven't really got going at all - understandable, perhaps, given that they got back from Kiev at 5am on Friday morning. Tevez tries to release Kolarov down the left but completely overhits his pass, the ball rolling out for a goal-kick.
  6 min: Well, it would have been interesting if Harte hadn't hit the first man. But Reading stay on the attack and McAnuff does brilliantly to scoot past his marker on the left flank, reach the byline and drive a dangerous low cross towards the near post, Lescott forced to turn the ball behind with Reading attackers waiting behind. McAnuff takes the corner from the right, hitting it deep to the far post, where Kolarov heads away and is then clattered by Long's shoulder. He should be ok though.
  5 min: Kompany gets himself in a mess trying to deal with a long, hooked ball over to the left from Tabb. Hunt gets there first, lobs the ball over Kompany's head and is then hauled down by the Belgian. Reading have a free-kick in an interesting position.
  4 min: Richards tries to chip the ball down the line to Wright-Phillips. McAnuff gets in the way and concedes a throw-in.
  2 min: David Silva has just put a beach ball off the pitch. I'm surprised he was able to do that, Spaniards are usually flummoxed by those things. As you can probably tell, it's been a quiet start. Noel Hunt is down and receiving treatment after an accidental elbow to the face from Vincent Kompany. "On behalf of all West ham fans can I point out that the FA Cup is nowhere near as important as it used to be?" asks Tom Shaw. "In fact it's pants, not worth the bother. It lost it's glamour after 1980. I'm glad we are not burdened with it anymore. Sob, wail."
  1 min: Off we go then. Reading, in black shirts and red shorts, start the match, kicking from right to left. Very quickly, City get a goal-kick. It doesn't look like Reading have sold out their away allocation, a risible state of affairs.
  The teams are ushered out of the tunnel by the ubiquitous Rebecca Lowe, who has surely covered more ground than any of the players will during the match.
  A pointless pre-match interview. "What's the mood like going into the game?" Rebecca Lowe asks Brian Kidd. "Rubbish," replied Kidd. "I hate everyone here, they all smell, no one laughs at my jokes, we're not going to win, we're going to lose, Yaya Toure has been stuffing grass in Mario's face, Mario can't stop sneezing and I want to go back to Manchester United. SurAlex?" "Very good," replies Kidd.
  Stubbs, Savage and Allardyce are walking round the pitch, talking and previewing the game. This is very weird. Allardyce appears to be trying very hard not to break out into a fit of giggles. They've just walked half the length of the pitch!
  Mike Summerbee's back just been interviewed on ESPN. Strangely Rebecca Lowe decided not to ask him about the prospect of City playing Manchester United in the semi-final. I wonder why.
  It's the dream tie we've all been dreaming of in our dreams! Bolton v Stoke City!
  Oh, and Manchester City or Reading v Manchester United.
  Ray, Stubbs, Sam Allardyce and Robbie Savage are standing on the touchline at Eastlands. "Looking sharp, Robbie," says Stubbs. Savage nods smugly and then goes on to riff on Arsenal's pain.
  Afternoon. You might have heard about this before. At Old Trafford, there's a banner in the Stretford End which ticks away signifying how long it's been since Manchester City last won a trophy. 1976! It's a drought that would put Elijah to shame and it's about time City did something about it. Their Arab riches have transformed them beyond all recognition since 2008, but still, the suspicion remains that they don't belong among the elite. Not yet, anyway. In a way, winning the FA Cup is slightly overrated. It's a day out, something for supporters to cherish, but you don't actually get anything for lifting the trophy. There's no Champions League football at the end of it, so for City, this is hardly the overriding priority. And yet, as David Brent once said, money don't make my world go round. Money can buy you brand new players and attract a shiny new Italian manager, but it can't change a mentality at a club.
  Ultimately City, unlike their neighbours still have the whiff of losers, harsh as that may be. They're inconsistent, they've been known to brawl on the training ground, and while it's not the most pressing of issues, they have a footballer who revealed an allergy to grass last Thursday. Chelsea were much the same until Jose Mourinho arrived. True, they already had Champions League football, but there was still an loveable, self-destructive streak coursing through the club, as demonstrated when they contrived to lose a Champions League semi-final to Monaco in 2004. When Mourinho arrived at the end of that season, he made sure he won a trophy as soon as possible. It was only the Carling Cup, but it mattered. He got it. City must hope Mancini does too.
  First, however, they have to overcome the considerable challenge Reading will set them this afternoon. They did it to Liverpool last season and they did it to Everton this season. Will City be the latest victims of a giant-killing? On the surface, Reading shouldn't have much of a chance. They are, after all, 10th in the Championship and City are third in the Premier League, but they have every reason to believe they can cause another upset here. Reading were hugely impressive against Everton, tenacious, organised and dangerous on the break. At Goodison Park, several of their players gave exemplary performances, with Alex McCarthy, Matthew Mills, Mikele Leigertwood, Jay Tabb and Shane Long all catching the eye. For Brian McDermott, the message is simple: same again please.
  Team news. Manchester City line up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation, with wee SWP given a rare run-out. Patrick Vieira, who has the turning time of a wardrobe, starts in midfield, while Yaya Toure, who has the strength and build of a wardrobe, will fit in behind Carlos Tevez. Edin Dzeko and Horticulture's Mario Balotelli are on the bench. As for Reading, their line up has an attacking feel to it, perhaps just as well given the defensive injuries they have.
  Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart; Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov; Vieira, De Jong; Wright-Phillips, Yaya Toure, Silva; Tevez. Subs: Taylor, Boyata, Barry, Razak, Balotelli, Dzeko, Jo.
  
  Reading (4-4-2): McCarthy; Karacan, Gunnarsson, Khizanishvili, Harte; Kebe, Tabb, Leigertwood, McAnuff; Long, Hunt. Subs: Andersen, Griffin, Antonio, Church, Robson-Kanu, Howard, Taylor.
  
  Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)

 

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FSV Mainz 05​

0 : 1
Final

Bayer Leverkusen​

Goals Renato Augusto (82')

(44') Eugen Polanski

(81') Jan Kirchhoff

(88') Andre Schurrle
Cards Sami Hyypia (25')

Sidney Sam (33')

Arturo Vidal (72')

(52') Jan Kirchhoff

Eugen Polanski

(61') Sami Allagui

Andreas Ivanschitz

(80') Florian Heller

Marcel Risse

Substitutions Eren Derdiyok (46')

Sidney Sam

Michal Kadlec (73')

Daniel Schwaab

Hanno Balitsch (86')

Arturo Vidal

Millerntor-Stadion

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St. Pauli​

1 : 1
58'

VfB Stuttgart​

(19') Fabian Boll
Goals Zdravko Kuzmanovic (24')

(31') Charles Takyi
Cards Substitutions Stefano Celozzi (52')

Cristian Molinaro

Completed Games

Friday, March 11, 2011​

Week 26​

RheinEnergieStadion

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1. FC Koln​

4 : 0
Final

Hannover 96​

Match Stats | Match Trax

 

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