Manchester City welcomed bottom-placed Reading to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday knowing that a win would cut Manchester United's lead at the top of the Premier League table down to three points.

The champions were made to toil for the victory in front of their home fans, but they came through thanks to Gareth Barry's 92nd-minute goal.

While City kept their title hopes on track, an 11th defeat of the season has seen the Royals stay at the bottom of the pile.

Sports Mole takes a look at another late show in Manchester.

Match statistics:

Man City:
Shots 17
On target 10
Possession 62%
Corners 12
Fouls 11

Reading:
Shots 6
On target 1
Possession 38%
Corners 3
Fouls 15

Was the result fair?

You only have to look at the statistics to see that City were dominant throughout the match. Reading defended doggedly and they looked like they would snatch a point, but you need to stay focused until the final whistle against the champions and the visitors didn't.

Man City's performance

While many will consider it to be another flukey, last-gasp win for City, they showed plenty of attacking flair and could have had two or three goals by the time that Gareth Barry popped up with the winner.

Reading's performance

Brian McDermott's side gave it everything in defence and they so very nearly came away from the Etihad Stadium with a point. There were flashes of danger up front too. However, they're going to need to improve quickly if they are to stay in the league.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Sergio Aguero: The Argentine was a persistent force in attack for City and often took it upon himself to break the deadlock. The Reading defence struggled with his mixture of intricate passing and bullish dynamism.

Biggest gaffe

With the scores goalless at the break, some sections of the home fans inexplicably decided to boo their players off the pitch. Baffling.

Referee performance

Mike Dean gave a couple of soft yellow cards during the match, but he may have been given an earful by Brian McDermott in the tunnel for not penalising Gareth Barry when he looked to be climbing all over Nicky Shore for the winner.

What next?

Man City: The Blues make the trip to Sunderland in the Premier League on Boxing Day.

Reading: The Royals will be looking to record only their second win of the season when they host Swansea City on Boxing Day.

Written by
Jack Prescott