Reading 0 Middlesbrough 2

Oct 4 2009 Sunday Sun

Reading quickly went in search of an equaliser and, following a period of pressure, Jobi McAnuff attempted an ambitious shot from the edge of the visitors’ box but his curled effort flew high and wide of the target.

The same player left St Ledger for dead on the Reading inside left channel soon after but, after dribbling to the byline, attempted a cross/shot which Brad Jones saved comfortably.

Boro should have doubled their lead in the 19th minute. Johnson hit a stunning cross into the box from the right picking out Lita on the penalty spot and the former Reading striker’s tidy first touch killed the ball, but then, with just the keeper to beat, he scuffed his shot horribly.

The game was competitive but rarely threatened to boil over. Jem Karacan was, however, rightly booked for a reckless lunge on Gary O’Neil who would have suffered a potentially serious injury had he not had the presence of mind to leap clear of the tackle.

Reading had the better of the latter stages of the first half but Jones was rarely troubled.

A McAnuff cross was headed wide by Jimmy Kebe and Brian Howard was off target with a header which stemmed from Shaun Cummings’s centre.

Darren O’Dea and Simon Church were also off-target with their headed efforts, much to the frustration of the home supporters.

Boro engineered some promising breaks of their own but the final ball was all too often under or over-hit.

Second halves have proved troublesome for Boro of late. Trailing West Brom 3-0 two weeks ago, an anticipated fightback ended in a 5-0 drubbing. A week ago, Coventry scored a last-minute winner and on Tuesday Leicester staged a late smash and grab to claim the points.

So the clever betting was on Reading starting the second period like a rocket yesterday.

Boss Brendan Rodgers made a half-time change, replacing Kebe with Noel Hunt initially lining up on the left and McAnuff switching to the right.

It had little impact on the opening stages, with play swapping from end to end without any end product from either side.

Then, out of nothing, Boro doubled their lead in the 55th minute. Lita received the ball from O’Neil with his back to goal mid-way inside the Reading half, then turned sharply before leaving the two covering central defenders for dead with an electric burst of pace, running to the edge of the box and drilling a low shot past Federici into the net.

While the Boro fans exploded with delight, the home supporters showed commendable sportsmanship by applauding their former hero’s outstanding solo effort.

Boro had a wonderful chance to kill off the game quarter of an hour later when Joe Bennett split the defence with a weighted pass to release Aliadiere but the Frenchman’s low shot rolled wide of the post with just the keeper to beat.

Seconds later and with the visitors looking comfortable, Southgate made the slightly baffling decision to replace the effective Yeates with Arca.

There was to be no repeat of the Coventry debacle, however, as Boro held on comfortably to take all three points.