The England Under-20 star wasted two great chances to put the Royals ahead in an impressive opening spell and then got his marching orders in first-half injury time for a second bookable offence.
Referee Scott Mathieson had to run the gauntlet of angry Reading fans as he left the pitch at the interval but it was alright on the night as some comic Bradford defending gifted Royals dangerman Nicky Forster the softest of winners.
Despite having the extra man advantage for the whole of the second half Bradford produced one of their worst games of the season and failed to test Reading's American keeper Marcus Hahnemann.
While the Royals' back four completely dominated City's woeful attack, Forster always looked likely to produce the goods at the other end.
He showed his intent straight from the Bradford kick-off when he pounced on a loose ball and put Tyson through with a measured pass.
City's keeper Aidan Davison did well to block at the 20-year-old's feet but he had no chance when Forster's pace again stretched Bradford's backline after 11 minutes.
This time he picked out Tyson in the six-yard box but instead of hitting the net he blazed his shot over the bar.
The Royals had already notched up ten wins on their travels this season and even when Forster hit a post with another effort they still looked like adding to that tally.
Tyson's departure after a trip on Bradford full-back Gus Uhlenbeek seemed to upset both sides but with Bradford looking clueless against their determined rivals it was set up for Forster to grab the glory.
The 29-year-old put centre-halves Simon Francis and David Wetherall under pressure as they dithered on the edge of the Bradford box and when Davison tried to boot away Wetherall's back-pass his mis-hit effort struck Forster on the chest.
He kept his head to slide-rule a right-foot shot for his 12th league goal of the season and three more valuable points in Reading's promotion charge.