At late cracker from Stephen Ireland, witnessed by Tony Gale, made it the perfect afternoon for Manchester City.
Man City 2-1 Reading
Soccer Saturday Expert Reaction
It is just about the perfect afternoon and the perfect moment for a Manchester City fan.
As the final whistle blew at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton, sending Manchester United to their second defeat of the season, Stephen Ireland crashed in the winner for City over Reading in second-half injury time.
It gave Sven Goran Eriksson's team a 2-1 win but Tony Gale, watching for Soccer Saturday, isn't sure City deserved all three points, even if the winner was a cracker.
"Not really," he said, asked if Manchester City were worthy winners. "They have got away with quite a few results like this this season, nicked them by the odd goal.
"When they scored in the 11th minute, through (Martin) Petrov, I thought they would kick on from here and Reading weren't really in the game. They were just passing it about, keeping possession and looking comfortable.
"Then, just before the break, up popped (James) Harper and he scores a very good goal.
"Second half, I thought Reading played really well. They contained City easily, they had used up all three substitutions, and then right at the end, it was a great, great goal for Ireland.
"Guys try to hit it to hard but this was a real controlled volley from Stephen Ireland. It was a goal fit to win any game.
"Coming that late in the game it was a crushing blow for Steve Coppell. That would have been a very good point for Reading and they deserved one."
