Reading edged another step closer to the Barclays Premiership with a hard-fought draw against fellow promotion hopefuls Palace at Selhurst Park.

Andrew Johnson thought he had earned Palace a precious win with a 79th-minute penalty, but the hosts were caught cold two minutes later when midfielder James Harper levelled.

Palace boss Iain Dowie claimed before the match his side could still achieve automatic promotion but a point against the leaders leaves them floundering in the chasing pack, 15 points behind Sheffield United in second in the Coca-Cola Championship.

Reading, meanwhile, stretched their amazing unbeaten run to 29 league matches and their lead to 10 points on manager Steve Coppell's return to his old club.

The relative strength of both squads was illustrated by the players on the two benches, Dowie again leaving out eight-goal striker Clinton Morrison and Coppell able to drop midweek hat-trick hero Leroy Lita in one of seven changes to the side that dumped West Brom out of the FA Cup.

Palace got the first clear sight of goal after four minutes when Harper's misplaced backpass put Johnson clean through, but the England man's shot was kept out by Marcus Hahnemann.

Johnson should have put Palace ahead midway through the first half but, after being neatly put through by Jobi McAnuff, his low shot drew a superb reaction save from Reading's American goalkeeper.

And the hosts were given a fright moments later when, with their entire defence leaving a high ball to each other, Dave Kitson stole in and prodded narrowly over.

Hahnemann was called into action early in the second half to deal with Jobi McAnuff's deflected shot, before Gabor Kiraly produced a fine stop to deny Glen Little at the other end.

Mark Hudson then squandered a glorious opportunity to break the deadlock when he sent a free header over the bar from Ben Watson's corner.

Bobby Convey provided some light relief with an air-shot on the edge of the area before Harper fired wide, and Kiraly had to be alert to palm away Kevin Doyle's near-post header.

Johnson was then caught in two minds when clear on goal and headed tamely into Hahnemann's arms.

Coppell was forced into a change after 65 minutes when Kitson picked up a knock, allowing Lita a taste of the action, and moments later Steve Sidwell sent a volley wide from a good position.

Palace had a strong shout for a spot-kick turned down when Sidwell blocked Jon Macken's cross with an arm, but moments later they were awarded a penalty when Johnson, in familiar style, touched the ball past Hahnemann and tumbled under the 'keeper's challenge.

Johnson stepped up to blast the ball past Hahnemann before staging an ill-advised celebration in front of the Reading fans.

But almost immediately the Royals drew level with the move of the match. Little's diagonal pass was touched on by Lita and Harper slotted his shot past Kiraly.

Johnson could have won the game late on but found Hahnemann equal to his close-range shot.

Teams:

Crystal Palace: Kiraly, Ward, Hudson, Fitz Hall, Boyce, Soares, Hughes, Watson, McAnuff, Johnson, Macken.

Subs Not Used: Freedman, Morrison, Leigertwood, Andrews,

Speroni.

Booked: Hughes, Johnson.

Goals: Johnson 79 pen.

Reading: Hahnemann, Murty, Sonko, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Little, Sidwell, Harper, Convey, Kitson (Lita 64), Doyle.

Subs Not Used: Gunnarsson, Hunt, Oster, Stack.

Goals: Harper 81.

Att: 19,888

Ref: T Kettle (Berkshire).