IT WAS a case of Turkish delight for Middlesbrough. It was only when their incisive substitute Tuncay Sanli emerged after 71 minutes that Boro seemed likely to save a game that looked lost.

On 83 minutes, when Boro’s overlapping right-back Luke Young crossed from the right, the Turk’s powerful header equalised the goal so expertly scored by Dave Kitson almost half-an-hour earlier.

A satisfied Gareth Southgate felt his team deserved their point: “Tuncay has been desperate to get that first goal. He took it really well. He has energy; he’s been very effective for us coming off the bench. This was the first time he’s been able to get himself free in the penalty area.”

Tuncay threatened just near the end to give Middlesbrough the spoils when, served at the right by Jeremie Aliadiere, his shot was blocked by Reading’s goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.

Both managers felt the goals their team gave away were avoidable. But Steve Coppell exonerated Hahnemann on the equaliser, insisting his defenders should have dealt with the cross. “We should have defended better, it was too flat to be the goalkeeper’s ball,” he said. “When our defender headed it, it was six yards out. I would have thought it would have been quite difficult for him to come and claim it.”

The Reading manager added: “The first 45 minutes had been very poor for us. In the second half we were getting back into the game. You can’t expect them to be confident, based on our recent displays. We’re the first to say we’ve been fragile this year.”

Southgate seemed highly satisfied. “I thought we created a lot of chances,” he said, while conceding that Boro “switched off” for the goal they conceded. “Both of us want to play attacking football. It was slightly forced upon us that we played two wingers on the day, but I thought the two wide boys, certainly Adam Johnson in the first half, caused them a lot of problems but we weren’t able to get that bit of quality. You’ve got to match their energy and team effort.”

The first half was largely prosaic. Both goalkeepers looked capable and efficient, though Hahnemann was fortunate when, after 40 minutes, he blocked a shot by Aliadiere and then when Johnson shot in turn, the ball went through the keeper’s legs, hit a post and bounced fortuitously into his arms.

Early in the game, a weak back-pass by defender Nicky Shorey forced Hahnemann to dive at Emanuel Pogatetz’s feet. Hahnemann dealt with a low drive from Aliadiere, and Kitson, easily the pick of the Reading side, gave Bobby Convey a chance to force a save from Ross Turnbull.

Boro’s centre-backs, however, were curiously erratic at times. Southgate was quick to praise the contribution this season of another youngster, David Wheater, but when the ball bounced over the head of Jonathan Woodgate and Kitson skilfully went round Wheater, it was Turnbull who got his team out of trouble.

Kitson, powerful, mobile and intelligent throughout, was his team’s best hope of scoring or creating goals. Predictably, perhaps, it was Kitson nine minutes into the second half who gave Reading the lead. There has been much criticism, often justifiably, of so-called route-one football, but there is no doubt that it can sometimes work. Hahnemann booted the ball downfield and Kevin Doyle headed the ball on to Kitson, who, showing he had technique to go with his power, lobbed it neatly and sweetly over the head of Turnbull.

It seemed that would be that. Reading threatened when Convey, who had changed flanks with Stephen Hunt, drove in a low ball on to which Turnbull plunged on the near post. Kitson himself, from Shorey’s free kick, had headed not far over the bar.

But then came Tuncay and the music changed radically. He had been on just nine minutes when Hahnemann had to dive at his feet and three minutes after that came his successful header.

Another cross, this time from the left from Shorey, and Kitson headed narrowly wide. But the last strike, the one with which he hoped to win the match, would come from Tuncay.

Match stats

Star man: Dave Kitson (Reading)

Player ratings:

Reading: Hahnemann 6, Murty 6, Sonko 6, Ingimarsson 6, Shorey 6, Hunt 7, Harper 6, Gunnarsson 6 (Long 86min), Convey 6 (Bikey 77min), Kitson 8, Doyle 7
Middlesbrough: Turnbull 7, Young 6, Woodgate 6, Wheater 6 (Huth 71min), Pogatetz 6, Downing 6, Rochemback 6, Boateng 6, Johnson 6 (Cattermole 89min), Aliadiere 6, Dong-Gook 6 (Sanli 71min)