And here’s Dominic Fifield’s match report:
They left it late, but Palace deserve their place in the semi-finals. Reading had some chances in what developed into an engaging contest, notably one in each half for Ola John, but the Eagles drew save after save from Ali Al-Habsi and their front three were a constant menace. The breakthrough came after a silly foul by Cooper, in a needless situation, and Cabaye was a little lucky to score his spot kick – but they won’t care. Palace go to Wembley, and a season that had looked like fading is very much alive. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your Friday night!
Full-time: Reading 0-2 Crystal Palace
It was his only involvement of the game.
Goal! Reading 0-2 Palace (Campbell 90+4)
I ... errrr ... had been just about to tell you of Fraizer Campbell’s presence among us, but the substitute – on for Bolasie – is released inside the area by a wonderful first-time Adebayor pass and, while Al-Habsi thwarts him first time out, he has the simple task of tapping home on the line from the rebound in his first involvement of the game.
Updated
90+3 min: Late Palace corner, just for a change, and it’s being keepballed by Cabaye and Adebayor – who is, naturally, caught offside.
90+2 min: Reading putting on a bit of late pressure, and Zaha deflects a John cross away. Then John gets to the line and puts in a very decent delivery ... but it’s headed away by a craning Palace neck.
90 min: The set piece comes to nada. You’d have to say that, while this is an unfortunate way for Reading to go, Palace will deserve this.
89 min: Williams earns Reading a free-kick 30 yards out, and Jedinak gets a silly booking. They couldn’t, could they? If they do, the Latvian forward Deniss Rakels will be on the pitch to help them. He replaces Obita.
87 min: Bolasie hits the bar! He enters the area on the inside left and whips one onto the frame. Palace are going in for the kill.
Goal! Reading 0-1 Palace (Cabaye 86, pen)
Cabaye scores, but he’s a lucky boy! He drives it down the middle – and Al Habsi gets a big hand on it, but can’t keep it out! If he stays where he is, Cabaye looks daft. As it is, he’s probably won Palace the match.
Updated
Penalty to Palace – and Cooper sent off!
Hector heads Cabaye’s free kick away, but it’s headed back up and over into the box by a Palace player, straight and central, and Cooper – the last man – needlessly fouls Bolasie, who probably wasn’t going to get there, right in front of goal. Penalty! And Dean sends Cooper off!
Updated
84 min: Adebayor then buys a free kick from Robson-Kanu on the other side after seeming to overrun the ball....
84 min: Sako gets this one, on that left foot of his ... but it’s straight at Quinn, who is positioned just to one side of the wall.
83 min: Zaha tries to get between a couple of Reading defenders on the right and one of them, Obita, yanks him over. Free kick just outside the area...
81 min: Bolasie is in the action again, trying a snap shot after a Souare cross finds him on the edge of the area. But he’s off balance and it’s way off target.
80 min: Hector has another slightly dozy moment and Bolasie races off down the left, but McShane is again well positioned to intervene.
Updated
79 min: Bakary Sako comes on for Ledley ... that’s a positive move from Palace.
77 min: Reading’s big chance! Oh, it’s John again and this is probably the best yet. He does what every big, powerful winger should, attacking a cross from the opposite flank – it’s another good delivery from Gunter – but it’s a free header once he’s got there and you expect the net to ripple. But no! It’s too close to Hennessey, who gets down to make a good with his legs but shouldn’t have been given a chance. If John had sent the ball back across him, then goal was gaping...
Updated
75 min: Bolasie leads a Palace break but his cross goes far beyond Adebayor. Reading now bring on the USA midfielder Danny Williams to replace Norwood, who has made a couple of important hacks away from virtually on the line.
73 min: Another Palace corner! This is a good game now, the second half has been full of incident. Cooper is the man nodding this one out of danger, and seconds later he’s standing firm to block a stinging Bolasie volley from 20 yards.
72 min: Vydra, bright and nippy, is sharper than Dann and dances down the left before feeding John, whose speculative effort won’t curl in or come down.
69 min: Al-Habsi again! It’s not right in the corner from Cabaye, but the ‘keeper still has to dive high to the left for his latest save. It means Palace have their umpteenth corner, which Hector gets away.
Updated
68 min: Beautiful play by Zaha, his footwork absolutely destroying Cooper on the edge of the ‘D’ and seeing him hacked down. A clear booking for the defender, and a free kick in Cabaye range...
Updated
67 min: And a good attack immediately by Reading, who find Vydra on the break. He lays off to Quinn, whose low shot from just inside the area forces Hennessey to dive to his left and hold.
66 min: Another corner, and more head-tennis in the Reading box before McShane, not for the first time, deals with it.
65 min: Palace get a really good counter all wrong, Bolasie eventually waiting too long and having to settle for a corner when an Adebayor shot deflects over. Adebayor gets onto the flag kick, and Norwood is the man clearing again. Then Jedinak has a shot repelled from in front of the posts. Reading being forced into some last-ditch defending here.
63 min: Obita looks to clear up the line and a second later is briefly in agony as Bolasie, who is booked, is adjudged to have caught him late. Again, it looked as if he won the ball. Not Mike Dean’s finest few moments.
61 min: Norwood’s free-kick gets no further than the wall. The ball is played back in and Hennessey, completely missing the ball, bundles into McShane – winning himself a free-kick in the process. That was, shall we say, very generous.
Updated
60 min: Robson-Kanu marauds inside and Delaney, who got the ball, is harshly adjudged to have fouled him just outside the area. Dangerous situation coming up. Meantime an interesting change for Reading. Cox, the lone forward, comes off and Matej Vydra, who has six FA Cup goals this season, is on.
58 min: Zaha gets a booking at the end of all that, as does Gunter. But about those chances! Al-Habsi’s save from Jedinak was the best of a decent bunch from him tonight. Palace will think they’ve done enough to be ahead by now.
Updated
57 min: What a save by Al-Habsi! Now a Cabaye set-piece, this time a free-kick from the right, does come to something – Jedinak jumping and meeting the ball sweetly, only to see the goalkeeper tip the ball away one-handed! Then Dann thumps a header down from the corner, and Norwood clears from in front of goal! Two near misses ... and then some handbags, I think between Zaha and Gunter, who seemed to clip the winger after he stumbled. Then Hector gets unnecessarily involved and Zaha looks absolutely furious. Everyone gets a talking to by Dean.
54 min: “A friendly bumblebee has made its way into my office, so that’s taking up most of my attention. An omen to draw Watford in the next round? Unlikely,” says Nick Nogrady. Must be a comment about these sides lacking sting somewhere but I’ll leave it to the ... errrr ... hivemind.
53 min: It’s bravely headed behind for another by the impressive McShane. Can Palace make one of these count? Cabaye’s latest inswinger is bulleted far away by Cooper.
52 min: More Souare bustle but he’s dealt with well by Gunter. Fairly slow start to this half too ... but then Souare does a bit better, and wins a corner.
@NickAmes82 Stuck with a Reading fan watching Reading v CP in Oslo. The sports bar put it on all 14 screens despite no one else watching it.
— Matt Isherwood (@ishmatt) March 11, 2016
Watching this game AND paying Norwegian beer prices seems a shade much.
49 min: And those Eagles have half a chance from a Cabaye free-kick, which bobs off a couple of heads before McShane coolly sees the ball back to Al-Habsi.
48 min: “Actually I’m listening to the Eagles on CD, in memory of a couple of wonderful musicians. Football comes second,” explains David Swindlehurst. And you’re reading about the Eagles here too, David!
47 min: “I’m keeping an eye out but battling with Canadian rail timetables & US customs exams is keeping me busy…..which is probably for the best. Not many Palace fans here,” write Matthew Willson. Excuses, excuses.
Updated
46 min: Palace start brightly, Souare finding space down the left but McShane swishing his cross away. Lots of crosses tonight, so far; not so much nuance through the middle.
Peeeeeeep. Anyone going to seize the initiative?
45 minutes from Wembley ... perhaps ... as Palace get us restarted.
Second half coming up shortly. Not many emails from you all tonight – but I know you’re all making furtive glances at this MBM under the table while pretending to listen to your date, so it’s ok.
Half-time: Reading 0-0 Crystal Palace
It started slowly, but we should have had a goal or two. Bolasie has come close two or three times for Palace, and Adebayor and Cabaye have had opportunities too. The former should probably have scored. John, trying to slide into an empty net from a narrow angle, had a good chance for Reading and, although the Premier League side were generally on top, it remains anyone’s game.
45 min: Should have been a goal for Reading there, certainly. His team-mates will be reminding him about that – Quinn could just have swept it home. Palace, though, had two decent opportunities straight afterwards.
Updated
43 min – Huge chances at both ends. First John, surprised to be presented with the ball on the byline after Hennessey flaps a cross against Ward, has an empty net to aim at with the angle tight, but could more usefully pull the ball back to Quinn, who will surely make it 1-0. He goes for the selfish option ... and finds the side netting! Huge chance and then Palace come close twice, Cabaye looping a half-volley just wide before Bolasie, going through on the right, sees a fierce drive parried by Al-Habsi. Ledley can’t quite reach the rebound. End to end finish to the half!
Updated
39 min: Now Reading’s best attack yet, as a spell of possession on the right ends in a good burst from Gunter, who crosses to the back post. John controls, takes a touch and then shoots narrowly wide of the upright. It was deflected, so Reading have a corner – which McShane almost gets a header on before Hector, thrashing at the loose ball, sees an effort cannon away off a Palace body.
37 min: Quinn, found by Cox, comes altogether less close for Reading from 25 yards.
35 min: Clear chance for Adebayor! Hector loses out in the middle and the ball is played through to the Togolese striker, slightly to the left of centre inside the box. He perhaps delays a little too long, trying to wrap his right foot round the ball, and – under good pressure from McShane – sees his shot well saved by Al-Habsi. Best opportunity of the game so far.
Updated
33 min: Palace aren’t quite banging at the door incessantly, but they look the stronger now. As I write, though, Cox does superbly to outmuscle Delaney and run into clear space. He finds Norwood – I think – whose attempt to spread left for Quinn is overcooked and a good counter fizzles out.
31 min: Yellow card now for Hector, who had miscontrolled inside the Palace half and been mugged by Bolasie, who he subsequently tugged back. Then Bolasie hits the side netting again, this time with a low shot after a Cooper tackle on Ledley falls his way. Palace are getting close-ish.
Updated
29 min: Chance for Bolasie from the corner, which is initially cleared before Adebayor and Dann combine to return it into the area. Bolasie spins quickly, but his angled drive to the left of the six-yard box crashes into the side netting. A few of the away fans thought it was in. They are jeered at.
28 min: A high Hector boot concedes a free-kick 35 yards out and fairly central. Cabaye won’t shoot ... will he? He will – and Al-Habsi has to get across to bat it wide!
26 min: Now a first Reading corner, won on the right by a previously-anonymous Robson-Kanu. Norwood delivers and it’s headed down powerfully by Hector ... with McShane not too far from getting a flick onto it before Hennessey dives to gather.
Updated
25 min: Slick from Bolasie and Zaha, both lively, with the latter changing pace to beat his man in the middle before laying right to the former, whose shot is deflected for a corner. That’s outswung by Cabaye this time, after a few stern words from Dean to the jostling crowd in the middle, but Reading clear. Palace’s front men are starting to combine well.
23 min: Zaha goes to the side for some treatment, a replaced contact lens or something like that. Either way, he’s having something done to his eye but should be OK.
20 min: A third Palace corner, conceded a bit softly by McShane, who thought he had been fouled. Cabaye swings in from the right again, and it’s glanced across goal but Reading clear – and try to counter to a breaking John but Ward is alert to the danger.
18 min: Ward gets a modicum of revenge on John, evading him and crossing to the near post, but nobody is attacking it and Al-Habsi gathers.
Updated
17 min: Zaha and Bolasie combine now, the latter crossing high and deep by the right corner flag. It’s towards Ledley at the back stick, but Gunter defends well. Then Souare delivers from the opposite flank and Adebayor nods down for Bolasie, who can’t get a shot away. Palace get another corner but that comes to nothing. This match is going to be all about service to – and from – the wingers, at current rate.
Updated
15 min: It’s wasted, which is pretty much the theme of the opening quarter-hour.
14 min: John, quick and powerful, absolutely skins Ward down the Reading left, gets into the area and then, inexplicably, decides to have a go at beating him again. He loses out wastefully, but Reading then win a free-kick 40 yards out...
12 min: Good foray for Palace, though, Adebayor slipping Bolasie in down the right as Dean plays a good advantage. Gunter sweeps the cross behind for a corner, which causes some panic as Al Habsi flaps and then, when the ball is nodded back into the six-yard box, Adebayor’s second header is cleared by Obita.
Updated
10 min: Hector, under no pressure in his own half, tries to spread right to Gunter but misplaces it and out it goes. It’s still scrappy stuff, Reading perhaps marginally the brighter.
8 min: Decent ball from Robson-Kanu in from the right there, though, and Dann is in to head away. Then John crosses low from the left but that’s smuggled out too. Better from Reading.
6 min: Definitely a bit of a bobbly-looking pitch in places. It was under some pretty yellow lights when I was there on Wednesday. It’s not currently being used much – lots of wayward long balls at the moment.
4 min: Then Cooper, the young centre-back, tries a ball down the left but slices it out of play. Not a lot has happened yet. Pardew and McDermott are both up on their feet.
3 min: Hector, playing in midfield, tries to switch the play but it’s cut out. Reading trying to get on the ball a lot early on.
2 min: Hennessey does rather better with his first clearance than McCarthy made of his on Sunday. It leads to Bolasie going foraging down the right of centre, with Zaha eventually having a shot blocked.
Peeeeeeeeeeeep! We're off!
Reading, left to right on a rather patchy pitch, kick off.
Updated
The teams are emerging at a rocking Madejski – get ready....
If you’re having trouble getting up for this one, please remember that this exists:
Mike Dean is tonight’s referee – as JR in Illinois has just implored me to remind you. I think Dean is going to be really, really beastly to Arsenal this evening.
Palace fans – would you take a replay from this? Would complicate things league-wise, perhaps, but assuming that fizzles out into nothingness the cup has to be your priority, no? Pardew strikes me as the kind of manager who could have the right kind of fortune in the cup, not least because of this...
Updated
What I did not know, and have been kindly informed of by a couple of you, is that the 1995 replay was in part so sparsely attended because Palace fans boycotted the game after the death of a fan prior to the first match.
Reading are currently 14th in the Championship, and when you look at some of the players in their squad tonight – Gunter, Hector, McShane, Piazon, Vydra, Ferdinand, McCleary – you wonder why. Any Royals fans want to pipe up and tell us? Email or tweet to the addresses at the top.
Palace, of course, haven’t reached an FA Cup semi-final since 1995. They lost this replay to Manchester United, 2-0, in a half-empty Villa Park.
Just one change for Reading from the team that beat West Brom in the last round, but seven from the one that lost at Huddersfield. Ola John, the winger on loan from Benfica, replaces Deniss Rakels. Palace are taking this seriously – just the one change for them and it’s in goal, with Wayne Hennessey replacing Alex McCarthy, whose scuffed clearance allowed Liverpool their equaliser on Sunday.
Updated
The teams
Reading: Al-Habsi; Gunter, Obita, McShane, Cooper; Hector, Norwood, Quinn, Robson-Kanu, John; Cox. Subs: Bond, Vydra, McCleary, Rakels, Ferdinand, Piazon, Williams.
Palace: Hennessey; Ward, Dann, Delaney, Souare; Bolasie, Jedinak, Cabaye, Ledley, Zaha; Adebayor. Subs: McCarthy, Kelly, Puncheon, Mutch, Sako, Campbell, Gayle.
Evening all
It’s the latter stages of the FA Cup, so it must be Reading. Funny how teams have that habit, isn’t it? Reading were an Adam Federici blooper away from a bona fide shot at the final last year, taking Arsenal deep into extra time in the last four, unexpectedly brightening up a season that brought little of note for them in the Championship. This year, only a despondent-seeming Crystal Palace stand between them and another place in the last four – despite another non-event of a league campaign.
Spooky. Brian McDermott’s side have had a kind-ish run so far, beating Huddersfield and Walsall before doing well to win 3-1 over an out-of-sorts West Brom. They beat Tony Pulis at his own game that afternoon, scoring from two set-pieces, and that sets up a winnable looking tie against Pulis’ old side tonight. It won’t be easy, not least because Reading didn’t get back home until 4am on Wednesday morning after suffering a 3-1 hiding at Huddersfield – in a league game this time. The incessant demands of television fixture list has dealt them a tough hand this week, but the Madejski Stadium should be sold out and this might just be the kind of occasion that adrenaline gets you through.
Palace certainly need a shot of energy. You’ll know the stat by now: they’re the only team in the top four divisions not to have won a game in this calendar year. It’s a far, far cry from their days as the poster boys for the new-found fluidity in this season’s Premier League and the manner of their defeat to Liverpool last weekend was crushing. Yet they have excelled in the Cup so far, beating Stoke, Southampton and, very impressively, Tottenham – the last two away from home – to get here and reminding everyone that this team can still beat anyone on its day.
Updated
So that’s what we have – two teams in desperate need of a pick-me-up in the league but acing it when the shackles are slightly off. Anything could happen, and at the very least it should be exciting. Join me to find out exactly what – kick-off is at 7.55pm UK time.
Updated
