 Pompey's Kanu gets to grips with Reading's Michael Duberry |
Reading and Portsmouth finished neck-and-neck at the Madejski Stadium in the race between two clubs chasing European football next season. Portsmouth's Richard Hughes came closest to breaking the deadlock with a second-half shot that hit the post.
Reading had the better of the first half, Pompey the second, but two well-organised defences stood firm.
The result leaves Pompey still seeking their first Premiership away win since Boxing day.
Reading applied the pressure from the kick off, forcing three corners in the opening two minutes as Pompey made a shaky start.
 | 606: DEBATE |
Pompey pieced their act together and Steve Sidwell's foul on Benjani gave them a free-kick in a dangerous position but Dejan Stefanovic - in his first game since November - slammed the kick into the wall.
Glen Johnson spent St Patrick's Day chasing Irishman Stephen Hunt, and Glen Little on the other flank kept Pompey's back line stretched out and supplied plenty of crosses.
Pompey had failed to score in four of their previous five games but Gary O'Neil came close when he dipped a volley inches wide with Marcus Hahnemann beaten.
Pompey's strikers did not gamble when a cheap foul by Michael Duberry on Benjani gave Niko Kranjcar the chance to whip a dangerous ball across the face of Reading's goal.
For all their pressure Reading were unable to batter their way past Sol Campbell and former Royal Linvoy Primus.
 Reading's Murty shows his determination against Mvuemba |
But they fared better when Hunt and Lita picked the passes to find Dave Kitson who was denied by Campbell's challenge as he pulled the trigger.
Hahnemann's sloppy clearance at the start of the second half presented O'Neil with a chance to run on goal but his desperation to work the ball on to his right foot saw him crowded out by the chasing defenders.
Pompey's start to the second half was certainly brighter than the first but all too often a sloppy final pass denied them a chance to exert serious pressure on the Reading defence.
As both sides sensed all three points were there for the taking, the game opened up and Arnold Mvuemba showed his paces to lead a Pompey break before finding Benjani whose shot was beaten away by Hahnemann.
Nicky Shorey tugged Kanu back to earn the first yellow card of the game but Kranjcar failed to double his punishment by curling the resulting free-kick wide.
Pompey almost broke the deadlock when Reading's defence failed to clear and the ball broke to Hughes whose first-time shot crashed against the post with Hahnemann groping.
Reading boss Steve Coppell admitted he was left: "Feeling a bit dissatisfied."
"We knew it was going to be hard, they beat us well earlier in the season and we wanted to make amends for that. "They paid us the complement of playing an extra man in midfield and it was hard to get at them.
"The longer the game went on, the more they looked like nicking it, but I might look back tomorrow and think it was a good point."
Pompey boss Harry Redknapp:
"I'm not concerned with the lack of goals. "Sometimes we try to play the killer pass and pay people in instead of shooting.
"But I thought we dominated the second half and with a bit more quality in our final pass could have opened them up."
Reading: Hahnemann, Murty, Duberry, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Little (Oster 84), Harper, Sidwell, Hunt (Halford 90), Lita (Doyle 76), Kitson.
Subs Not Used: Federici, Gunnarsson.
Booked: Duberry.
Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Campbell, Primus, Stefanovic, O'Neil, Mvuemba, Hughes, Kranjcar (Taylor 90), Mwaruwari, Kanu.
Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Traore, Cole, LuaLua.
Booked: Hughes.
Att: 24,087.
Ref: S Bennett (Kent).
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Interview: Reading manager Steve Coppell
