FA Cup 3rd Round

Manchester United 2:0 Reading

Old Trafford

Kick-off
Sat, 5 January 2019 @ 12:30pm GMT
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Discussion Live Updates 55 Your Lineup Prediction

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    Positives:

    Romero is very assured. A great back up goalkeeper.
    Darmian has looked very stable at centre half. Always in the right position and decent on the ball.
    Sanchez and Lukaku link up for the goal. Brilliant move.

    Negatives:

    Andreas and Fred have been terrible on the ball. Turnovers galore.
    McTominay is the invisible man.
    Full back involvement is limited so far which is the opposite of what I expected.

    Overall, it seems like a tactical decision to sit back and play on the counter. Not enjoyable for me, as it feels like watching us under Maureen.
     
    Maybe I shouldn’t moan when we’re two goals up but some players out there have been a disgrace. Young and Sanchez in particular behave like this game is beneath them, Perreira and McTominay look like championship midfield and Fred is...whoever recommended that signing should be fired. Only bright spot is fecking Darmian who look like our best defender.
     
    Great that this sort of game is back pretty comfy again.

    Remember playing much lowlier teams under Van Gaal and struggling them out!
     
    This is part of Ole's grand plan -- lull the Spuds into thinking it will be an easy match next Sunday.

    He is clever that way.
     
    The whole central midfield are playing too passively and need to be more aggressive. Also difficult to work out McTominay's role today, he should be holding but nobody appears to be in front of the back four and the game has pretty much passed him by so far. A shame as I was expecting to see a good performance from him today.

    Both he and Pereira have a lot to prove as does Fred.
     
    Not sure if we set up intentionally to play on the counter against Reading at home but I suppose it's worked. Hopefully we do something at half time to gain a little more control of the ball and game because our pressing has been inconsistent and unstructured so we can't keep giving the ball away when we do get it. Would like to see the youngsters at some point too.
     
    Fellaini or Garner need to come on for McTominay. Fellaini is on the bench right?
     
    Disjointed.

    Too many changes to the team. Should improve in the 2nd.

    We seem to be happy to let them have the ball and make a mistake.
     
    Crackers said:
    We need a sub in the midfield. Either Fred or McTominay - as neither can seem to hold it together.
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    Nickosaur said:
    Fred, Andreas and McTominay all look bang average. In what world is Fred worth £50m.
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    Fred's not having a great game but he's had a few good moments. The first goal resulted from the ball he won and laid off to Mata for the penalty for instance, before his offside finish. He also laid it on a plate for Lukaku when he made the attempt that the keeper saved
     
    OneUnited24 said:
    I really don’t get the hate Lukaku gets on here. Last season he was a huge part in why we finished second. Hasn’t had a good season but there’s a quality player in there. A bad 6 months doesn’t change that.
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    It's probably exaggerated because of the association to Mourinho.
     
    Individually we outclass Reading but as a team we’re too disjointed. The midfield doesn’t look as though it’s even trained together never mind playing competitively. The defence is wobbly because there is no master-defender to control from the back.

    This kind of performance shows why Matic, Ander and Pogba are so critical to the squad. We need a top top CB soonest.
     
    Isotope said:
    I don't know what some are watching. Pereira is the only one knitting that midfield.
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    he's attacking well, but he's not covering his man or passing well enough. Still, he can't do much when Fred loses the ball or McTominay gets caught napping
     
    Fred thinks he's needed in both teams, he'll win the ball back and start an attack for United then he'll give the ball away in dangerous area and start an attack for other team. It's not only this match he's done that. We should really get our opponents to pay 25 mil for Fred every time he plays for us.
     
    el3mel said:
    Missed the first half. How is the match ?
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    Pretty dull. Reading running rings around us at times, we've had about 3 breakaways, 2 of which have resulted in goals. Passing is poor, defence is awful. People hate Sanchez, Pereira, Fred and McTominay. Lukaku getting the usual bashing aaaaand Jones has made some awful faces as per normality.
     
    Our midfield is one nothing player (McTominay), one creative midfielder playing as a defensive midfielder (Pereira), and one defensive midfielder playing as an attacking midfielder (Fred). I'm not surprised it's not working.

    Literally just having Fred and Pereira swap positions would improve us significantly.
     
    dove said:
    I would like to know when Andreas wasn't bad. He is just one of these players that everyone seems to hype and be mad when he is not in the team but every single time he plays he is really bad.
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    Completely agree. The last time he played he was lauded for keeping it simple but he looked pretty bad to me and nothing more than a cleverley. Sadly I think he’ll be another one who’s talented but doesn’t make it here
     
    Lukaku will definitely be back on the bench against Spurs. He's so passive compared to Rashford and a decent goal scoring record against substandard opponents won't change that.
     
    Eckers99 said:
    You'd think some of these players would be desperate to show the new manager that they're good enough to play but they've been very disappointing. I just don't see a future at the club for the likes of Mctominay or Perreira.
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    McTom shouldn't ever be starting Premier league games, unless we're massively depleted.
    Jose's stubborn use of him was likely a retort to his anti youth rep
     
    Yea, reading back comments on McTominay. Feels like I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt forever. Think it’s over for him; he lacks vision
     
    Just don't enjoy watching Mata anymore, he seems to add nothing nowadays and just frustrates me watching him play. Hopefully we grab a 3rd early in this half and Chong and Garner can get on for 30 mins
     
    Loublaze said:
    Fred's not having a great game but he's had a few good moments. The first goal resulted from the ball he won and laid off to Mata for the penalty for instance, before his offside finish. He also laid it on a plate for Lukaku when he made the attempt that the keeper saved
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    Making 2/3 passes isn't the problem here. It's the combo of the 2 of them not being able to keep control. He keeps losing the ball when they press (which isn't that bad), but McTominay keeps getting caught napping.
     
    If you want the side to speed things up, Chong would be a good sub to do that. That's all the kid does. He's always on the move.
     
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Post-match discussion

Man of the Match

Sergio Romero image Sergio Romero 37% of 591 votes

Runners-up

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Player Ratings

5.6 Total Average Rating

Highest Rated Player

Lowest Rated Player

Compiled from 382 ratings.
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Score Predictions

479,7,7
  • Man Utd win
  • Reading win
  • Draw

Detailed Results

  • 33% Man Utd 3:0 Reading
  • 24% Man Utd 4:0 Reading
  • 14% Man Utd 2:0 Reading
  • 13% Man Utd 5:0 Reading
  • 6% Man Utd 3:1 Reading
  • 2% Man Utd 4:1 Reading
  • 2% Man Utd 2:1 Reading
  • 1% Man Utd 5:1 Reading
  • 1% Man Utd 0:0 Reading
  • 1% Man Utd 1:0 Reading
  • 0% Man Utd 0:1 Reading
  • 0% Man Utd 0:3 Reading
  • 0% Man Utd 2:2 Reading
  • 0% Man Utd 0:5 Reading
  • 0% Man Utd 2:3 Reading
  • 0% Man Utd 5:2 Reading
  • 0% Man Utd 1:1 Reading
  • 0% Man Utd 1:3 Reading
Compiled from 493 predictions.
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Match Stats

  1. Man Utd
  2. Reading
Possession
40% 60%
Shots
8 13
Shots on Target
5 5
Corners
1 4
Fouls
14 13

Referee

Stuart Attwell

Man Utd Lineup

Substitutes

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