Peterborough United were outpassed, outfought and outclassed by a rampant Reading side who kept alive their faint hopes for a play-off spot with a 6-0 victory.

Posh boss Gary Johnson named four centre backs in his starting line-up for the clash with Reading at the Madejski Stadium, but he was able to call upon Lee Frecklington, Gabriel Zakuani and Mark Little who all returned to the team.

An early free-kick from Gylfi Sigurdsson was deflected wide of the target for a corner kick and from the resulting set-piece, the hosts opened the scoring as Alex PEARCE got in front of goalkeeper Joe Lewis and diverted the ball into the back of the net.

An acrobatic overhead kick from Jobi McAnuff went over the crossbar on seven minutes and Piosh were struggling to get any kind of possession as the Royals dominated the early exchanges

Sigurdsson was denied by a superb reflex save by Lewis on 10 minutes as the home side made good progress down the left hand side of their attack. Lewis then showed good handling to keep hold of a Bertrand effort as the shots kept raining in on the Posh goal.

Captain Brian Howard was next to have a go, but again Lewis was equal to the close-range shot. The home dominance led to an early change as Geohaghon was withdrawn to be replaced by Danny Mills as Posh went back to a more conventional 4-4-2.

Sigurdsson was cautioned for diving on 22 minutes after bursting into the box and feeling a slight challenge from Scott Griffiths. Reading were awarded a spot-kick on 25 minutes as Morgan upended Kebe inside the box and SIGURDSSON stepped up to slot home from the spot.  

Lewis then produced a stunning save to deny the impressive Kebe and the Royals were threatening to run riot. However, as one crumb of comfort to Posh, they were in this position at London Road earlier in the campaign and came back to win 3-2 after a stunning second half fightback, although keeping the score at 2-0 at the interval appeared to be a forlorn first challenge.

That challenge didn't last long anyway, a long ball out wide to McANUFF saw him cut inside Ryan Bennett and unleash a left-foot shot into the bottom corner of the net.  

Manager Gary Johnson knew he had a tough job as manager, but this footballing lesson from Raeding was a harsh one, the Royals were finding space all over the pitch and looked a good bet to add to their tally.

Tommy Rowe fired wide in a rare foray forward on 34 minutes after good work from Craig Mackail-Smith, who was trying hard to keep the ball in Posh's possession against towering centre halves. Posh did win their first corner kick on 36 minutes, which actually caused problems at the back post before the ball was hacked away from a second set-piece.

Howard fired wide from 20-yards five minutes before the interval after another patient build up from the rampant hosts and moments later, Lewis used all of his reach to prevent Kebe from rounding him after the winger raced clean through on goal.  

The rout was very much on moments before the break as KEBE played a simple one-two, got in behind Griffiths in the left back area, took two unopposed touches and then fired the ball past Lewis. It led to mass exodus of Posh fans from behind the goal and it was no surprise, Posh were simply outclassed in this first period.

In stoppage time, Rowe flashed a shot wide of the upright after a good knock down from Bennett before the referee put Posh out of their misery by calling time on the first half.

Half-time: Reading 4-0 Posh

Posh had a great chance to pull one back four minutes after the re-start as Mills played in Frecklington, but after rounding the goalkeeper, he fired into the side-netting.

Lewis was soon back in the action though, denying Shane Long twice in quick succession, first from close range and then reacting well to deny the front man as Little was dispossessed.

Some more epically bad defending from Posh allowed Reading to add a fifth on the hour mark as LONG shrugged off any challenge coming his way to slot the ball past the advancing Lewis.

That goal spurred the hosts back into action and as a result, Lewis was back with the ball coming at him, doing well to hold a Howard strike before Long again tested him. Kebe was literally inches away from making it six moments later, but his left-foot shot shaved the outside of the post.

It was going from bad to worse for Posh and it was soon 6-0 on 75 minutes as SIGURDSSON poked home from close-range after Long had somehow contrived to strike the crossbar from less than two yards out after a low cross.

Mackail-Smith sent an overhead kick inches past the post after a terrible mix-up at the back for Reading moments later, but the effort trickled wide.

It was back to the other end very quickly though and Kebe should have made it seven for the Royals, but he blazed over after a wonderful cross from substitute Henry. Lewis then tipped a Kebe cross-shot wide of the target.

'We want seven' was the cry from the home faithful and had it not been for Lewis, that target would have been reached ages ago, but he was in the right place to stop Charlie Lee's attempted clearance from finding the back of the net on 85 minutes.

Little joined Zakuani in limping out of the fray as Dominic Green was given the task of playing out the final five minutes. Lewis excelled himself moments from the end with another stunning stop to deny Long after some delightful play from the Royals, who were showboating in fine style.

Reading had the ball in the back of the net twice more before the finish, but both were ruled out for offside before the final whistle ended the Posh misery.

Final Score: Reading 6-0 Posh

Reading: Federici, Tabb (sub Karacan 78min), Long, McAnuff (sub Henry 63min), Kebe, Bertrand, Sigurdsson, Pearce, Howard, Griffin, Khizanishvili (sub Gunnarsson 69min). Unused subs: Church, Robson-Kanu, Hamer, Rasiak.

Posh: Lewis, Morgan, Zakuani (sub Simpson 31min), Lee, Frecklington, Mackail-Smith, Rowe, Little (sub Green 86min), Bennett, Griffiths, Geohaghon (sub Mills 18min). Unused subs: McKeown, Wright, McCrae, Appiah.

Attendance: 15,982 (386 Posh)