The big guns finally joined the FA Cup race. My beloved Manchester United side were up against Reading who have been struggling in the English Championship. They currently sit 23rd on the 24 team log of the lower tier of English football, so yes your guess was as good as mine United would have it easy and to show how confident I was of my team going into this tie, I expected at least 4 goals before half time.
United have won the oldest football competition 12 times but have had one winner’s medal in the last decade while Reading’s best posting has been 4 last 8 qualifications within the same period. Both sides were obviously not in the same class. United interim manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer made 9 changes to the side that beat Newcastle 2:0 on Wednesday night. I was glad Andreas Pereira made the cut, I can’t explain why I love this lad.
United kicked off the first half and to be honest Reading dominated possession though no clear cut chances created by the Berkshire based side. The Red Devils got a whiff of the Reading goal a couple of times but fluffed the chances up until the 20th minute. Brazilian midfielder Fred put the ball in the Reading net but was flagged as being offside by the assistant referee, though prior to that Juan Mata had being fouled in the box. For the first time in English football Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was consulted and a penalty was awarded to United. Mata dusted himself up to take the spot kick and easily put the ball inside the net to give Manchester United the lead. 1:0, United lead.
The Royals continued to be adventurous bombing forward in search of an equalizer but it was United that would score again. Romelu Lukaku received a pass from Alexis Sanchez before dribbling past Anssi Jaakkola in goal for Reading then slotted home. 2:0 going into the break in favour of Manchester United.
Reading got the second half underway and were still the dominant side. There were no further goals in the game despite United bringing on Maroune Fellaini, Tahith Chong and Marcus Rashford. To add to how disappointed I was in the performance from the Red Devils their first corner kick came in final minute of the game. 2:0 the game ended as United book a spot in the FA Cup fourth round.
It was an awful performance from Manchester United but glad they won plus another clean sheet. Next up is a trip to Dubai for intense training sessions before the game against Tottenham at Wembley next Sunday.
Thanks for your time guys, do enjoy the rest of the weekend. BLESS!!!
