FA Cup: Everton 0 Reading 1

Championship club Reading surprised Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

A 26th-minute goal from captain Matthew Mills proved enough for Reading – 10th in the second tier – to overturn their Premier League hosts in the fifth round upset.

They face top flight opponents again in the last eight, in the form of Aston Villa or Manchester City, on March 13.

Reading upset Everton’s cross-city rivals Liverpool with a 2-1 win in the third round last season.

Everton had the better of the first half until the opening goal, with Mikele Leigertwood forced to clear over the bar from a Leighton Baines cross and Seamus Coleman wasting a chance created by Leon Osman and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

Osman also tested Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy with a long-range effort.

The visitors had been restricted to half-chances from Shane Long, before the intervention of Mills mid-way through the half.

The centreback met a cross from Ian Harte and while Osman was able to block the initial header, the rebound fell kindly to Mills, who controlled well with the chest before firing past Tim Howard in the Everton goal.

Jimmy Kebe should have made it 2-0 soon afterwards when he was put clean through on goal, but Howard stood him up and did well to block the shot.

Jermaine Beckford and Victor Anichebe were thrown on at the break and the former combined with Luis Saha to produce an opportunity early in the second half.

Mikel Arteta and Jack Rodwell also tested McCarthy, while Reading retained a threat through a Harte free-kick and Jay Tabb’s deflected shot on 75 minutes.

Saha had an effort inadvertently blocked by team-mate Beckford, before Osman looked certain to equalise.

With just moments remaining, the midfielder connected with Beckford’s downward header and smashed a volley at goal, but McCarthy produced a remarkable save to tip the ball over the bar and secure Reading’s passage to a quarter-finals.