Reading 3 Bradford City 0 (Half-time 2-0)
Bradford City's giant-killing days are over for another season, as they eventually succumbed to Reading from the Championship in their FA Cup quarter-final replay at the Madejski Stadium yesterday. The game was more or less 'up' in the early stages, after the home side had swept into a 2-0 lead in just ten minutes. The Yorkshire side kept their interest in the tie going through the second-half, but their dreams of Wembley were finally ended when Reading scored a third goal with 22 minutes remaining, shortly after City had been reduced to ten men.
Reading now face Arsenal in the semi-final at the English national Football stadium, in their first FA Cup semi-final appearance for 88 years.
City were hopeful of creating another Cup shock against the Royals, after their previous heroics against Premier League Chelsea and Sunderland this season, although there were many who thought that their best chance had come and gone after the 0-0 result at Valley Parade. The replay proved to be something of an anti-climax for the players and fans, as Reading went two up early on. Their opener on 6 minutes from Hal Robson-Kanu came from a corner that he converted with a near post header. It soon became two, when Garath McCleary's left-foot shot took a wicked deflection to loop agonisingly over the keeper, Ben Williams and into the net just three minutes later.
Any hopes of a comeback became extremely unlikely on 63 minutes, when Filipe Morais was given his marching orders after a high challenge on Chelsea loanee Nathaniel Chalobah. It took only another five minutes for the home side to make their numerical advantage pay, as Jamie Mackie fired home neatly to put the game beyond City.
The end of the road for Bradford, as they could never really muster the defiance of earlier rounds, after playing just 48 hours previously in League One. They will take away many happy memories from this Cup run though, especially of the time that they humbled Jose Mourinho's Chelsea side at Stamford Bridge. They will now look to gain promotion to the Championship as they move into the final stages of the season.
Reading will move on to face Arsenal, as they hope to do some giant-killing of their own in the semi-final, on what should be a wonderful day out for their fans and the players at Wembley Stadium. Interestingly enough, Reading indicated where their priorities lay, as all 11 players who began the replay had been rested at the weekend in the league.
There was one sour note to the replay, as it has been alleged that McCleary was subjected to racist abuse by a supporter during the match, with a Bradford supporter being arrested at half-time as a result of the allegation. Police are currently investigating the incident further.