It took 13 seconds. That's when the chanting started for Roberto Mancini and it was another 10 minutes before it stopped. Then it started again.
The fact Manchester City's section of the Madejski Stadium was barely half full last night told its own story about how the club's season has gone. But if those in power at the Etihad Stadium wanted even a modicum of support from the masses for their decision then they did not get it.
There were banners — Forza Mancini and Grazie Mancini — and there were Italian flags and there were songs. It will be of little comfort to City's hierarchy that small pockets of the home support had their own axes to grind and repeated the occasional tribute to Brian McDermott.
Reading: McCarthy, Gunter, Morrison, Mariappa, Kelly, Karacan, Guthrie, McCleary, McAnuff (Blackman 69), Robson-Kanu, Pogrebnyak (Le Fondre 62).
Man City: Hart, Richards, Toure (Maicon 15), Lescott, Clichy, Toure, Barry (Garcia 58), Milner, Silva, Tevez, Aguero (Dzeko 62).
Who would have thought these two clubs at opposite ends of the spectrums for spending power and Premier League points would sack the managers that delivered landmark achievements just last summer?
For Brian Kidd, City's caretaker manager, it wasn't actually a bad night, even if the tie was the deadest of rubbers. They won it when Sergio Aguero capped a passing move of utter brilliance with a sweet finish towards the end of the first half. To think it was a year and one day on from that 'Agueroooo' moment.
Edin Dzeko added a second late on after some magic from David Silva, but it could have, and should have, been far more convincing. Alex McCarthy in Reading's goal was superb. He is surely an England keeper in waiting, but that can't disguise the fact that again City didn't take their chances. In miniature, that has been the problem of their season and, arguably, what did for Mancini.
Irrespective, it's likely to be Manuel Pellegrini's problem now. Last night the aftershocks of Mancini's departure were still being felt, most notably in the form of a club statement at 6.52pm that David Platt had left his position as assistant manager.
After the game Kidd said: 'I've got to be honest, the last 48 hours has all come as a shock to the staff. All credit to the players. They have had to have put up with a lot of stuff (since Wembley) and it would have been a travesty if we had not finished second.'
For his part, Kidd made four changes to the side that blew their last chance of silverware at the weekend. In came Kolo Toure, James Milner, Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott; out went Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Matija Nastasic and Samir Nasri. Toure was back on the sidelines after 15 minutes with an injury.
Adkins stuck with the same players that beat Fulham 4-2 on Saturday — the only game he was won since he took over from McDermott in March.
It was perhaps indicative of Reading's wider campaign that Adam Le Fondre was named their player of the season ahead of the kick-off. Between him and the two other nominees — McCarthy and Hal Robson-Kanu — they had made 33 starts.
Fair as that decision might be, McCarthy is the man of the moment. His performance in the 0-0 draw against Liverpool last month was such that Brendan Rodgers described it as the best he had ever seen from a goalkeeper.
'He was very good,' Adkins said. 'We believe he can be a top four keeper, an international level keeper.' Indeed, keeping him might yet be Adkins' biggest challenge this summer. 'I am not looking to lose Alex,' he added.
In the third minute, McCarthy raced off his line and stopped Aguero. A minute later he dealt with Silva's shot from distance and then smothered an effort from James Milner.
Joe Hart made a good stop from Garath McCleary, but when McCarthy somehow contorted his body to keep out a Carlos Tevez header the Reading fans cast their vote: 'Alex McCarthy, he's better than you.'
But McCarthy couldn't stop City's opener. Milner was the architect, exchanging passes with Silva in the Reading area before rolling the ball first time through a tiny gap into Aguero's path. The finish was delightful.
But really it was the McCarthy show — his stop to deny Yaya Toure from distance just shy of the hour summed up his game. Tevez was frustrated again moments later.
Dzeko finally found a way through in the 88th minute, rolling the ball past McCarthy after a delightful reverse pass by Silva.
Via: El Real Madrid defeats the CAI (84-76) with patience and bench for approaching the end
