No cup dreams for Jose’s Royals
Manchester United 2 Reading 0
JOSE GOMES was proud of his Reading players as they made Man Utd work for their victory at Old Trafford.
The Royals exited the FA Cup third round at the home of the Red Devils for the second time in three years after a two first-half goals secured victory for United.
A penalty from Juan Mata put the 12-time FA Cup winners in front on 22 minutes, after a video assisted referee (VAR) decision confirmed an Omar Richards foul on the Spanish midfielder.
Danny Loader wasted a golden opportunity to level the contest when he skipped around goalkeeper Sergio Romero but could not find the target.
However, Romelu Lukaku doubled United’s lead on the stroke of halftime after Alexis Sanchez pounced on error by John Swift in midfield to play the Belgian striker through on goal and he made no mistake.
The visitors continued to dominate the ball after the restart, ending with 60% possession and also more shots than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, but they could not find the net.
“Looking at the performance, I am very proud of what my players did,” said Royals boss Gomes.
“They showed courage to put our process on the pitch. They pressed very high, recovered balls in the offensive midfield and created goal situations.
“It’s not easy to come from the situation we are in and show intensity and courage and positive football.
“We had twice as many shots as Man Utd, 60% ball possession and more corners than United so we produced the performance but the result was not the same.
“It means a killer instinct is missing from my team. We have the ball at the right moment around the box, but the last pass is missing.”
Despite sitting 23rd in the Championship and having been thrashed 4-1 by Swansea just four days earlier, Reading showed no sign of nerves and saw plenty of the ball in the opening exchanges.
But United went close early on when Sanchez fired narrowly over.
At the other end Garath McCleary raced down the left for Royals, before squaring across the box to find Andy Yiadom, but his effort skewed harmlessly over the bar.
The ball was then put into the Reading net by Fred, but the linesman flagged for offside.
However, after a lengthy
VAR deliberation, a penalty was awarded for a foul in the build-up on Mata by Richards.
Mata stepped up himself and sent Jaakkola the wrong way to put United ahead.
Royals looked to respond and nearly did when Callum Harriott released Loader, but the 18-year-old was eventually dispossessed as he attempted to tip toe around Romero in the United goal.
Reading continued to press and Yiadom went going close again, producing a fine effort on the spin which Romero had to parry out for a corner.
It was a heartbreaking end to the first half for Royals, who conceded in injury time after Swift lost it in midfield and Sanchez threaded through to Lukaku, who neatly rounded Jaakkola before slotting home United’s second.
After the restart, Swift tried his luck with a free-kick from range, but his strike was straight into the arms of Romero.
Another Royals chance came and went when Aluko played through Harriott, whose effort on goal was sweetly-struck, but again was too close to the United keeper.
Jaakkola prevented a third for United when he got down well to deny the recently-introduced Fellaini after Ashley Young had wriggled his way through the Royals defence and played the ball across from the left.
A slip by Young on the ball nearly enabled Royals to pull one back, with sub Modou Barrow releasing Aluko, who fired at goal from the edge of the area, with Romero blocking around the post for a corner.
Jaakkola was then called into action at the death, palming away a stinging effort from Andreas Pereira as United secured a safe passage into the hat for the fourth round and left Reading winless in 11 games.
“This is a strong base to look to the future with a big hope,” said Gomes.
“My players showed strong spirit from the start against a very, very strong opponent.
“Playing like that we do not need to be concerned about the future. But we must play with this spirit.”
Reading host Nottingham Forest in the league on Saturday (3pm).
READING: Jaakkola; Yiadom, Ilori (Aluko 45), Moore (c), Richards; Kelly, Rinomhota; Harriott (Meite 76), Swift, McCleary (Barrow 61); Loader.
Subs not used: Walker, Gunter, O’Shea, East.
Yellow card: Yiadom (33)
MAN UTD: Romero; Dalot, Darmian, Jones, Young (c); Pereira, McTominay, Fred (Fellaini 61); Mata (Chong 61), Sanchez (Rashford 63); Lukaku.
Subs not used: Grant, Lindelof, Garner, Martial.
Goals: Mata (22 pen), Lukaku (45+4) Yellow card: Chong (77)
Referee: Stuart Attwell
Attendance: 73,918