[Lucky McLuckerson]

Not a convincing display but we're through to the 4th Round of the FA Cup. Reading had more possession and more shots on goal today and with more quality would surely have made this a much closer contest.

First-half goals from Mata and Lukaku were the difference as we did just about enough today. It was a very changed line-up missing many of our top performers so I'm sure Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will have been glad to assess many of the squad players over 90 minutes.

There is now a much needed break before the big game at Spurs. The team are off to Dubai this week for some sunshine.

Match stats

Possession
Man Utd 40%
Reading 60%

Shots
Man Utd 8
Reading 13

Shots on Target
Man Utd 5
Reading 5

Corners
Man Utd 1
Reading 4

Fouls
Man Utd 14
Reading 13

Man Utd 1:0 Reading - Mata (22' pen)


Man Utd 2:0 Reading - Lukaku (45' + 4)


Post Match Interview

 

[SirAF]

Easy win, rested lots of players and got to see Chong.

 

[Ian Reus]

Next match please.

 

[Mick321]

Pretty crap but through after a tough schedule is all that matters really.

 

[el3mel]

Poor but I'm fine with this. Got the job done while exposing our god awful second string.

We have 14-15 players who are good enough for main spot but the rest is just quantity over quality.

 

[bosnian_red]

They were pretty much all shite. Romero motm? Still felt like a routine comfortable 2-0 win though so who cares really. None of these bar probably Young or Jones should start vs Spurs

 

[Kostur]

Good professional performance with plenty of rotation, happy for Chong, no injuries, no complaints.

 

[FortBoyard]

A really disappointing performance from the second string. Shows that we don't have the depth in our squad that we should have for the money spent. In particular the midfield was incredibly poor.

McTominay and Perriera don't look like they have the ability to make it here, Fred still looks like a drastic overspend. With the inability of this trio to either retain or win possesion we were outplayed by a second division relegation candidate. Only the experience of the forwards on the pitch was able to wrestle a victory from that platform.

 

[DRM]

We won that's all otherwise it was such a dull match

 

[vidic blood & sand]

Shame we couldn't sack Mourinho every week.

 

[TMDaines]

Another GK as MotM. Was hoping it would be a while before that again. Today was up there with the worst of Mou. Thankfully we were playing Reading and finished well twice.

All will be forgiven if we deliver next weekend though.

 

[Ramshock]

AP disappointing

 

[littlepeasoup]

It's all about getting the win at this stage of the cup, performances don't really mean too much.

Job done. Move on.

 

[Raoul]

Fairly pedestrian yet cagey at times, performance. Reading were better than expected and could've easily scored a goal or two. Onward.

 

[sullydnl]

Shite game, we won.

 

[JezChan]

Good professional performance with plenty of rotation, happy for Chong, no injuries, no complaints.

Sanchez? Right hamstring issue.

 

[fallengt]

Very Mourinho esque. Some of these players showed us why they are not in the first team

 

[Ballache]

Got the job done, gave some players minutes.
Can't read too much into it, happy Lukaku got a goal.

 

[ivaldo]

Going to the Norwich game today so had to leave half way through second half for my train. By the sounds of it, the train journey was more entertaining.

 

[Josep Dowling]

Would hope for more at home but job done, clean sheet, players that needed minutes have got them, Chong playing 30 minutes.

 

[R.N7]

It's a home game vs poor opposition in the FA cup, what did people expect really?

Solid win, makeshift team and a disjointed performance was always to be expected.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Jaysus, we had 39% possession?

 

[#07]

Rubbish but we won so who cares? In the end its the winning that counts.

Nobody really knocking down the door for a first XI start based on that. Impressed by how well Darmian equipped himself at centre back considering he's a full back. Although a team with better forwards than Reading would've exposed us big time.

 

[El Zoido]

They played at 50% and still won. Think we’re one of the worst teams for not putting the effort in against lower league opposition. Not sure what to take from the game because of this.

 

[Rozay]

Bit of a waste of my afternoon, rubbish game. More like the United of recent times, outplayed at home by the Championships’ bottom side.

 

[mu4c_20le]

Job done , players rested, on to the next.

 

[The Real Treble 99]

Good result but a very poor performance from most of them who were given the chance to shine. And TBH it was the perfect game for the young players to do so because Reading were woeful. Nothing more to say.

 

[charlenefan]

Fecking awful, those players had a point to prove and the only point they made is that Ole has been right not to be playing any of them

 

[Mockney]

As disappointing a 2-0 win as I can remember.

 

[Minimalist]

Missed the first half.

Second half the team looked a bit sloppy and tired but generally, always in control of the match and always looking to go forward. Some of the squad players getting a chance to show their quality didn't really deliver you have to say.

Nice moment for Chong to get on. Didn't really impress but still good to see all the same.

 

[Chairman Steve]

The players behaved like they wanted to go to Dubai for a holiday warm weather training more than actually win the game.

 

[Ibrahimorich]

Wasn't impressed by anyone really. We didn't press like we have been doing. We didn't play out from the back. We looked poor under the press from Reading who are ostensibly a League One side.

Romero and Darmian probably the highlights. Wasn't a great game to bring Chong into since we were defending mostly.

A win is a win though and this isn't really representative of anything except that our reserve players weren't really up for it.

 

[Kostur]

Sanchez? Right hamstring issue.

Wasn't it precautionary? Shit.

 

[Raven]

A return to Joseball. Fred was diabolical, starting to lose patience with him now, he shouldn't be struggling in a match like this.

 

[BluesJr]

Exposed who I knew would be exposed but we are through. All about next Sunday now.

 

[bondsname]

Thank god Reading can't finish, because they are the best team I've ever seen in my life.

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

Let's be honest. That was really really poor. As bad as the worst of Mourinho.

But we won, we've come through the festive period with 5 wins in a row and the club is in a much better and much happier place.

Big game next week.

 

[Harry190]

Reminded me of the vintage late 2000s Fergie days when we'd win with a makeshift team without much effort.

 

[JezChan]

Glad to progress, and despite the match stats, it never felt overly uncomfortable. Midfield was dire - clearly our first choice is Pogba-Matic-Herrera.

 

[Shimo]

Ugh that was horrid watching, our CM has no depth at the moment, they were just terrible playing forward. McTomminay defensively was decent and the game was that bad, I'd give him the MOTM.

 

[Snafu17]

A selection of tactically positioned cones could probably beat Reading today.

Understandable though with the schedule, the amount of rusty players that are coming back from an injury.

 

[devips]

Welcome back, Mourinho.