Manchester City fans heading for the exits as Gareth Barry piles more misery on Reading His opposite number was less sanguine. Wearing a look which suggested he had just encountered a ghost in the corridors of the Etihad, Brian McDermott was fuming about the goal which had snatched a point from his hands at the last. As far as he was concerned, Barry had taken an illegal route to power home his header at the far post, using Reading's substitute as if he were a climbing frame. I'm just gutted because I don't know how anyone can see that goal differently to how I've seen it, I honestly can't - the foul on Nicky Shorey. He was on his back, that's what I saw. That's a foul," he fumed. When it was pointed out that Mancini, like the referee Mike Dean, like the thousands remaining in the stadium, thought the fault may have lain with Shorey for not attempting to jump to clear the ball, McDermott was still not pacified. Mancini doesn't give a monkey's, he's just won 1-0. You could understand the Reading manager's frustration. He was within seconds of avoiding the least coveted managerial role in the game: being in charge of the league's bottom club at Christmas. Instead, his seasonal fare was yet another low blow to absorb. And this after what was unquestionably the most effective performance since his club were promoted. Following his team's destruction by Arsenal on Monday, McDermott had clearly worked on his defence ahead of this fixture. With his wingers Jimmy Kebe and Jobi McAnuff dropping back into line for most of the game, it meant City's attackers were faced with a flat back six, with a holding midfield three in front. It was not just a question of numbers either, it was the manner in which they defended. Central defenders Adrian Mariappa and Alex Pearce, one of the players on whom Reading's Championship title win last season had been based, were outstanding, constantly intercepting the subtle flicks and disguised passes on which City's potent forwards normally thrive. Reading had their chances, too. McDermott was convinced he should have had a penalty when Jay Tabb was floored after a rare breakaway. Unfortunately for him, no one else shared his conviction. Certainly not the referee. Although at times it was like the Alamo as City poured men forward, the longer it went on, the longer it seemed the thin yellow line would hold. And City's supporters grew increasingly anxious. They wondered why the same players who would have eviscerated a team like this a year ago were finding it such hard work. It is a conundrum puzzling their manager too. "Our play is not fluent like last year," Mancini said. Maybe we don't have the same confidence we had last year when we were at the top. But, if the fluency is temporarily absent, what City's players do possess in abundance is a refusal to panic. And even as the early leavers were reaching their cars, confident that they were missing nothing, Silva slung in yet another cross which Barry headed home, obliging McDermott to spend his Christmas in the Premier League's out-tray. "We made up a 20-point gap last season to get promotion," he said. Who says we can't do it again? You wait and see. Waiting and seeing: clearly a seasonal message some of the regulars at the Etihad have yet to appreciate.