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Solskjaer's United claimed their record-equalling 5th consecutive victory against relegation-threatened Championship side, Reading. It was Mata who opened the scoring from the penalty spot after VAR decided to award United a penalty. In the added time of the first half, Lukaku doubled United's lead with a beautiful finish from a defence-splitting pass from Sanchez.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made as many as 9 changes to the team that won over Newcastle United, as he tried to rotate the squad at the end of a busy festive period. As expected from the changes, United were not the same team under Solskjaer that had played in the last four games and the second choice players clearly struggled under the new manager against Reading.
However, the Red Devils were clinical and scored two goals to see off Reading and progressed to the 4th round of the FA Cup. Let's look at the 5 major talking points from the game
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#1 Surprisingly, Reading were the better team
Reading will feel hard done by as they had more of the possession and were quicker to move the ball around than the Red Devils.
Unlike what the scoresheet suggests, Reading dominated the whole match and surprisingly had a possession of 59%. The build-up play and the chance creation was excellent from Reading. It was only lack of quality in the final third that stopped Reading from scoring. In fact, if Reading had better players, they would have easily scored 3 to 4 goals. Reading had 13 shots out of which 5 were on target.
Nevertheless, Reading manager Jose Gomes will be pleased with the way his team played for it is a big feat to go to Old Trafford and dominate the game.
#2 United midfield did not have a good game
Solskjaer decided to give all his three first choice midfielders rest by starting Pereira (CDM), McTominay (RCM) and Fred (LCM). The players in the midfield probably were not in their natural position. If Fred would have played at the RCM position instead of LCM and since he is a left footed player, he would probably have involved himself more in the attacks from the RCM position. Pereira as CDM was a disaster. He seemed to try too much and that cost his team many times as he was dispossessed time and time again. As for McTominay, he could have played at the CDM position instead of RCM. Defensively, he was good but he barely contributed anything while going forward. He could have done better at the CDM position.
To conclude, all three of the midfielders will need to put perform better if they want to play more in the first choice team.
#3 Jones-Darmian centre-back pairing got the job done
Jones was expected to start but due to injuries to other centre-backs, Darmian partnered Jones in an unfamiliar centre-back position. Both Jones and Darmian played well and stopped the Reading attackers to create any clear chance in the penalty box.
The Italian was strong at his position and covered well. Even though United were caught out a few times and were spared only by some poor finishing from Reading, Darmian looked comfortable in the unusual centre back position. He was also effective in his tackles and ensured that United did not miss a centre back on the night.
Jones, like Darmian, was effective with his tackles and marshalled the defence very well. Moreover, Jones was good with his passing as well.
To conclude, it was a good day at the heart of the defence for the two lads.
#4 Lukaku and Sanchez impress
Both Lukaku and Sanchez have become second choice players to Rashford and Martial. They both had a point to prove to the new manager in the Reading game. Although both of them were not extraordinary, they both had decent games.
Sanchez looked lively on the left wing and even provided an assist for Lukaku from a precise through ball. Sanchez contributed to the defence as well by tracking back whenever the team required. As for Lukaku, he looks like a man on mission. He had scored in each of the last two games after coming on as a substitute and scored a goal today as well. His goal was really well scored and was expertly finished. Moreover, Lukaku looked more confident and was pretty good with his dribbling as well.
Against Reading, both of the players showed that they want to play an important role in the second half of the season.
#5 Tahith Chong and his debut
In the 62nd minute, the highly rated youngster became the 229th academy player to play for Manchester United. Due to Reading's domination in the game, Chong did not have many opportunities to show his skills. He, however, did show glimpses of his talent on the right wing. The good thing about Chong was that he did not try too hard to make an impression and played to the needs of his team. He even tracked back to support the defenders. To summarise, it was really good too see Chong make his debut for the first team and if given more chances, his role in the Manchester United first team may increase.
