MAN UNITED 4, READING 0
Manchester United’s juggernaut rolls on as they stretched their unbeaten run to 14 games in all competitions.
It is more than two months since the Reds last lost and they were far too strong for Championship club Reading at Old Trafford in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup.
After a whirlwind start, in which United scored twice in the opening quarter of an hour, there was only going to be one winner as Reds’ legend Jaap Stam had an unhappy return.
Wayne Rooney, with a club record equalling 249th goal for the Reds, opened the scoring while Anthony Martial and a double from Marcus Rashford completed the rout.
And this was done with effectively a shadow side – nine players were rested with manager Jose Mourinho saying they will return in the EFL Cup semi final against Hull City on Tuesday.
Mourinho was delighted with the display adding his squad players didn’t surprise him, merely confirmed what he already knew about them.
He said: “It was a very professional performance from the first minute when we had two big chances. We were intense, dynamic and played well.
“I am really happy with our performance collectively. We played well defensively and also created chances.”
Mourinho also paid tribute to Rooney but added his best day is to come when he scores his next goal and becomes the record goalscorer in the club’s history.
“It is amazing to equal Sir Bobby in what he did in the history of the club and English football and scored the number of goals he has done for United,” he said.
It was all change for United from Monday’s Premier League game at West Ham.
Marcos Rojo and Michael Carrick were the only two survivors from the side that won at the London Stadium.
Sergio Romero was recalled in goal, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind and Ashley Young to defence, Juan Mata, Marouane Fellaini to midfield and Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney to the front line in a bold 4-2-4 formation.
But with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mikhitaryan among the substitutes, there was plenty of back up in the event of things going awry.
United could have been 2-0 ahead inside 90 seconds as Rashford fired narrowly wide and Rooney forced a decent save fro keeper Ali Al-Habsi.
It looked as though it could be a long afternoon for the Royals who fell behind in the seventh minute when Rooney equalled Sir Bobby Charlton’s club record of 249 goals.
Martial cut in from te left and Mata’s chip was volleyed home by Rooney for only his fourth goal of a stop-start season for the Reds’ captain and his first since the last week of November.
And it got worse for the Royals when Martial put the Reds 2-0 ahead curling in a low shot after playing a delightful return pass with Rooney. It was his sixth goal of the season.
The only dampener early on was the loss of Rojo through injury as he was replaced by Phil Jones after 19 minutes.
Reading had a good chance to halve the deficit when Joey van den Berg volleyed narrowly wide from the edge of box following a corner.
United ought to have added a third goal when Carrick released Rashford who rounded Al-Habsi but fired into the side netting from a tight angle.
Rashford went close again after being put clean through by Rooney, but Al-Habsi raced from his line to block.
It was then the turn of Rashford to turn provider setting up Martial who blazed over from six yards at the end of a half in which United created 18 scoring chances, the most in a 45-minute period since Mourinho took charge.
Carrick had the chance to make it 3-0 early in the second half, but Al-Habsi made a terrific save low to his left.
Al-Habsi then made an excellent double save to deny Fellaini and Rooney for what would have been a record-breaking 250th goal for the Reds.
United finally made it 3-0 in the 75th minute when Rashford scored his fifth goal of the season, but his first since September and a 17-match spell without scoring.
Carrick’s slide-rule pass released Rashford who raced clear to slot the ball past Al-Habsi.
United made a double change with 12 minutes left when Mata and Carrick made way for Bastian Schweinsteiger and Tim Fosu-Mensah.
Rashford added a fourth goal in the 79th minute following a howler by Al-Habsi who completely miss kicked when trying to clear a Liam Moore back pass as the striker walked the ball into the net. It was his first double since the two he scored against Arsenal on his Premier League debut.
And it was a measure of United’s supremacy was they had 27 goal attempts compared to Reading’s five with the on-target ones 12-0, no wonder Reading’s last win against United was in 1927.