City sets up all-Manchester semifinal
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Manchester City set up a titanic FA Cup semifinal against Manchester United with a battling 1-0 win over Championship side Reading at Eastlands on Sunday.
City reached the last four for the first time in 30 years after scoring the only goal of a dour match when England defender Micah Richards powerfully headed home a corner after 74 minutes.
"It was very difficult - as the game went on, it got harder," Richards said. "Reading did well, they defended well. Fortunately the header went in."
Earlier, Stoke City ended an even longer wait to make the semis for the first time since 1972 when it beat West Ham United 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.
It will face Bolton Wanderers, which beat Birmingham City 3-2 on Saturday when United made sure of its place with a 2-0 win over Arsenal.
City was made to battle all the way by second division Reading which beat Premier League sides West Bromwich Albion and Everton on the way to the last eight.
It defended superbly against Roberto Mancini's expensively assembled team which was largely unimpressive apart from the hard-working David Silva.
Under pressure
Mancini, under pressure to end City's 35-year wait for a trophy, said his team looked sluggish after travelling to Ukraine for a Europa League game on Thursday which it lost 0-2 to Dynamo Kiev.
"It is impossible to be fresh at this moment, we played in Kiev three days ago and got back in the night," he said. "It is impossible to be at 100 per cent.
"But today at least we had 17 attempts on goal against two or three for them, but it was difficult because Reading are a good team and played well."
The rivalry between United and City has intensified since Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi took control at Eastlands and poured of millions into the club.
Despite its neighbor's cash-fuelled arrival among England's elite, United is still the dominant force, beating City in an epic League Cup semifinal last season and losing only one of its last eight matches against it over the last three seasons.
Asked about facing United, Mancini replied: "It should be a fantastic game and we are very happy to be at Wembley, but it is only the semifinal. We want to go back for the final as well."
City has not met United in the FA Cup semis since 1926 when City won 3-0.
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