Sheffield United
Reading (Cisse 5, Doyle 44)

The Royals earned an impressive and ultimately comfortable 2-0 win over in-form Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon - our seventh victory in ten games.

Kalifa Cisse gave us the lead with just five minutes gone, sidefooting home nicely from a Kevin Doyle cross.

Reading then had a fair amount of defending to do, but United didn't really create much before Doyle nodded home Stephen Hunt's free kick just before the break.

United had a burst of pressure just after the break, Marcus Hahnemann making one stunning save from James Beattie, who also hit the post, but after that initial rush we were again pretty comfortable.

Either side could have nicked a goal in the dying seconds, but United knew they were beaten, Reading putting in a professional performance to inflict a first home defeat of the season on Kevin Blackwell's side, and our eleventh game unbeaten against the Blades - stretching back more than five years.

Sheff Utd: Kenny; Naughton, Jihai, Kilgallon, Morgan (c); Speed, Spring (Sharp HT), Quinn (Halford HT), Howard; Beattie, Stokes (Henderson 78)
Subs: Naysmith, Cotterill
Booked: Stokes (simulation 6)

Reading: Hahnemann; Rosenior, Armstrong, Bikey, Ingimarsson; Cisse, Harper (c), Kebe (Gunnarsson 68); S Hunt; Doyle, N Hunt (Long 75)
Subs: Andersen, Matejovsky, Henry
Booked: Kebe (foul 45), Bikey (foul 60), Armstrong (foul 65)

Ref: M Oliver

Attendance: 25,065

First half
Reading seized the advantage early on, and had a very good chance on just two minutes through Andre Bikey, the defender meeting a corner on the volley but putting it over the crossbar from eight yards out.

Quickly though we did have the lead with a goal that was simple in its creation and quality. Kevin Doyle received a throw on the left, and turned inside his man. He played a low ball into the feet of Kalifa Cisse, who sidefooted home into the roof of the net from 16 yards.

United looked for a quick response but Anthony Stokes was rightly booked for a dive in the box, then Bikey defended well to clear a looping cross from under his own bar.

The Blades then had a fair amount of possession, but couldn't do anything of note with the ball.

Reading put together a cracking move on 34 minutes involving the impressive Cisse and Doyle, but James Harper's long range effort was too close to Paddy Kenny.

And after riding out the intermittent Blades pressure, we scored again at a great time; just before the break.

Noel Hunt won a free kick down the right, and it was well whipped in by his brother. Doyle got there expertly at the front post and stooped low to head home under pressure from Sun Jihai - putting the striker on 14 for the season.

Second half
Home boss Kevin Blackwell was clearly unhappy with his team's first half display, and brought on striker Billy Sharp at the break, as well as former Reading man Greg Halford.

The changes almost paid immediate dividends as the two subs combined to give James Beattie a chance, but Marcus Hahnemann got down brilliantly to produce a stunning stop.

United had a head of steam at this point, and Beattie then hit the post from a deep Stokes cross; the ball thankfully falling to a Reading man who hacked clear.

The Royals had a good amount of defending to do in the 15 minutes after the break, but stood firm whenever needed.

United then seemed to run out of ideas somewhat, and save for a few bookings and substitutions there was little real action as we stayed comfortable.

Beattie nodded narrowly over with ten minutes to go, and Stephen Hunt then went on a superb run into the area but his pass was just blocked ten yards out.

Down the other end Sharp tried his luck from long range but it was deflected wide, and from the corner we cleared off the line but a free kick was given anyway.

The game was very open in the final few minutes, and Harper sidefooted at Kenny from 12 yards after another nice move involving a number of players.

In the 89th minute some lovely interplay from a short corner nearly saw Doyle nod home but a defender just got there.

There was still time for another chance, Sharp being denied by another cracking Hahnemann save - then Howard putting a good chance over and the game was up.

It was a good performance from the Royals, scoring two good goals and defending well as needed, including a couple of superb saves from the keeper.