A Brazilian masterclass from Casemiro, Antony and substitute Fred sent Manchester United on their way to a convincing 3-1 win over Reading and a spot in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Two goals from Casemiro in the space of four second-half minutes put the Red Devils on their way before Fred sealed victory on a night when Antony played his best game in a United shirt.
Reading had an even tougher mountain to climb after veteran striker Andy Carroll was sent off on 65 minutes, and a goal from substitute Amadou Mbengue while down 3-0 proved to be a mere consolation.
United dominated possession throughout the opening exchanges, peppering Reading's goal with Bruno Fernandes, Antony and Wout Weghorst all having early efforts that went wide.
Marcus Rashford forced a decent save from a free-kick as he went in search of his tenth goal in ten home games and shortly after that he thought he had achieved the impressive feat on 36 minutes when heading home from close range, albeit for Weghorst to be ruled offside in the build-up following a VAR check.
United continued to press for the opener but wasted several more chances and almost headed into the break a goal down as Reading's Junior Hoilett forced Man United 'keeper David de Gea into a smart save with his legs after robbing Tyrell Malacia of the ball in the box.
But the home side upped the ante in the second half and a moment of brilliance from Antony saw the Brazilian pull off a neat no-look pass into the box as Casemiro ran onto it and dinked the ball over the goalkeeper to finally open the scoring on 54 minutes.
It didn't take long before the former Real Madrid man had his second. This time a delightful curled effort from 25 yards into the far post left Reading's Joe Lumley no chance. Fred soon joined the action off the bench and showed some Brazilian flair of his own as he cheekily flicked the ball between his legs at the near post from a corner to make it 3-0.
It was a night to forget for veteran Reading striker Carroll who headed for an early bath on 65 minutes after picking up a second yellow for a late, clumsy tackle on Casemiro. Reading oddly responded by pulling a goal back through substitute Mbengue heading home from a corner, but it was too little, too late.
United's impressive displays under Ten Hag continue to go from strength to strength, particularly at home with an 11th straight win at Old Trafford, and they'll be in the hat for Monday's fifth-round draw.
MORE: FA Cup 5th round draw in full: Fixtures, dates, kickoff times and more
Man United vs Reading final score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Man United | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Reading | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Goals:
MUN — Casemiro (54th min)
MUN — Casemiro (58th min)
MUN — Fred (66th min)
REA — Mbengue (72nd min)
Lineups:
Man United (4-2-3-1): De Gea (GK) — Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia — Casemiro (73' Mainoo), Eriksen (57' Fred) — Antony, Fernandes (68' Pellistri), Rashford (68' Pellistri) — Weghorst (73' Elanga)
Reading (5-3-2): Lumley (75' Bouzanis) — Yiadom, Holmes, McIntyre, Rahman, Hendrick (75' Craig) — Loum (62' Fornah), Hoilett (69' Mbengue), Ince — Joao (76' Long), Carroll
Man United vs Reading live updates, highlights from FA Cup
Final: Man United 3-1 Reading
90th min: Antony drives another shot from distance but it's easily blocked. The Brazilian has been one of the standout performers tonight and deserves a goal, but it looks like he'll have to settle for just an assist this evening. Four added minutes.
84th min: Reading are getting the ball higher up the pitch, but United can now afford to be patient with their play and take the time with a two-goal cushion. Ince is fairly animated on the touchline, too, trying to spur his team on to finish strongly.
80th min: Garnacho, Elanga and Pellistri are all on and playing with some attacking intent. The former has an early chance, but his shot is wasted.
72nd min: GOAL! Man United 3-1 Reading
Mbengue has only just come on and scores instantly to give the visitors hope. He heads home from a corner.
66th min: GOAL! Man United 3-0 Reading
Fred gets in on the act. A low cross from corner sees Fred flick the ball between his legs at the front post. A lovely finish. Rashford and Fernandes are taken off after and Garnacho and Pellistri are on.
67th min: RED CARD! Carroll is sent off for a second yellow. A stupidly late sliding tackle sees him take out Casemiro and he can have no complaints.
62nd min: Fornah is on for Loum as Ince makes his first change.
60th min: Carroll goes into the book for a foul on Malacia.
58th min: GOAL! Man United 2-0 Reading
Casemiro again! Another brilliant finish but this one is all of his own doing.
57th min: Fred is on for Eriksen in an early change from Ten Hag. Fred lays off a short pass to Casemiro from 25 yards out and he curls it first time past Lumley into the far post. A slight deflection from the defender may have helped it on its way, but take nothing away from the strike.
54th min: GOAL! Man United 1-0 Reading
The boys from Brazil combine! Antony plays in a delightful through ball for Casemiro who runs in behind the backline and lofts the ball over Lumley with a delicate dinked finish. A lovely team move. You can't say United haven't deserved it.
49th min: Bit of a break in play here as Hoilett has taken a whack to the face and is bleeding a fair bit from his nose. He's getting the full shove the tissue up the nose treatment though and will carry on.
We're back underway! No changes for either side at the break
Half-time: Man United 0-0 Reading
45th min: Big chance for Reading! Malacia is caught on the back foot in the box and Hoilett robs him of the ball to get the shot away from close range and De Gea saves with his legs.
43rd min: Reading are holding on just to get to half-time now. The two forwards have barely seen a touch of the ball all game and are having to come deep to get involved in the action.
41st min: Fernandes plays in Casemiro who goes down in the box and United want a penalty. But the contact from Hoilett isn't enough for a spot-kick and he wins the ball in the tackle.
36th min: GOAL RULED OUT! Rashford has the ball in the back of the net after heading in from close range, but Weghorst, who had headed the ball back across goal to his teammate, is offside following a VAR check.
32nd min: A lovely run from Antony sees him cut in from the right wing before playing a neat through ball into the box, but Fernandes snaps at the shot and it's dragged wide.
26th min: Eriksen has a shot from distance, but again the Reading defence are in the right place at the right time and block the shot.
21st min: Holmes makes a brilliant last-ditch block to deny Weghorst who did well to react to a loose ball in the box and get his shot underway on the turn. It feels like a matter of time until United break the deadlock...
18th min: Another decent chance for the home side, this time Fernandes passes the ball into Antony on the right wing, who has time to take a touch, look up and curls one into the far left post but it goes just wide.
14th min: Rashford fires a free-kick from 20 yards straight at Lumley, who punches it out and Eriksen follows up but his goal-bound effort is well blocked.
12th min: It's all United so far with possession and Wan-Bissaka has been very lively down the right wing. Reading yet to get going.
8th min: Eriksen whips in a free-kick from the left that goes a few inches wide of the far post.
5th min: Nice play on the right hand side sees Wan-Bissaka drill the ball across goal and Weghorst gets a flick but it's deflected behind.
3rd min: A cagey start so far has already seen Eriksen try and play a ball over the top from midfield for Rashford to run on to but Reading's backline spot it early. Will no doubt be plenty of that tonight...
We're underway!
5 mins from KO: Here come the teams. Will Reading take the game to United or try and hold out for a draw to force a replay? We'll soon find out!
20 mins from KO: Elsewhere, there's been plenty of FA Cup ties already today and Tottenham are currently 2-0 up against Preston with 15 minutes to go. Here's a recap of all today's 4th round results.
40 mins from KO: Ince knows all too well about the famous Old Trafford having spent six years there and has warned his players to try and relax and focus on playing without pressure
"Erik ten Hag put on a few kids against Nottingham Forest (in the 3-0 Carabao Cup win on Wednesday night) so you're wondering if they will play. But you've got to forget about Manchester United though, and prepare for the atmosphere.
"There will be 70,000 fans there, Saturday night, 8 p.m. and you have to be prepared to deal with the atmosphere of what Old Trafford brings. That's something most of the players won't have experienced. It's more about that mentally than playing the game.
"I've been lucky to walk out at Old Trafford in front of a full house. It can be intimidating and when you've not done it before you can get stuck under the lights and be in awe of it.
"That can affect your performance as a player so these are the things I will be talking to the players about [ahead of the game]. It's about being relaxed. There is no pressure on us to win the game. Obviously I want to win the game, I'm not going there for a sightseeing trip that's for sure. Some people do because it's a lovely day out but for us, we have a chance of causing an upset."
60 mins from KO: The teams are in!
75 mins from KO: The Red Devils secured a 3-1 victory over Everton in the third round to get to this stage, while Reading beat fellow second-tier side Watford 2-0 at home.
These two teams have met previously in two third-round victories in the FA Cup with United winning 4-0 in 2017 and 2-0 in 2019.
We'll be bringing you team news in 15 mins.
90 minutes from KO: Man of the moment Marcus Rashford has been in sensational form lately, scoring 10 goals in his last 10 matches in all competitions, but Erik ten Hag could opt to rest him tonight.
With the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri and Anthony Elanga all chomping at the bit to impress their boss, the trio will be hoping for minutes tonight and will fancy their chances against lower league opposition.
120 mins from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of today's FA Cup match. A place in the fifth round is at stake and United are heavy favourites to win as Erik ten Hag's side look to continue an impressive run in 2023 that has seen them win five games from seven in all competitions, losing once.
Man United vs Reading lineups
Man United (4-2-3-1): De Gea (GK) — Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Malacia — Casemiro, Eriksen — Antony, Fernandes, Rashford — Weghorst
Subs: Heaton, Martinez, Varane, Williams, Fred, Mainoo, Pellistri, Elanga, Garnacho
- Injured: Van de Beek, Dalot, Tuanzebe, Martial, Sancho
- Suspended: None
Ten Hag has given certain first-team players a break for this game, with Lisandro Martinez still being eased back into action following the World Cup.
Harry Maguire comes into the defence after missing the Forest match.
Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot miss out through injury. Ten Hag hinted that Jadon Sancho could make his long-awaited return to the matchday squad, having not played for the club since October 22, but he's not been included tonight.
Reading (5-3-2): Lumley — Yiadom, Holmes, McIntyre, Rahman, Hendrick — Loum, Hoilett, Ince — Joao, Carroll
Subs: Bouzanis, Guinness-Walker, Dann, Mbengue, Craig, Long, Azeez, Meite, Fornah
- Injured: Hutchinson, Moore, Tetek
- Suspended: None
Andy Carroll leads the line after passing a late fitness test.
MORE: Why Wout Weghorst loan to Manchester United makes sense
Man United vs Reading live stream, TV channel
Here's how to watch all of the action from this match in some of the major territories.
MORE: Watch every Premier League match live with fuboTV in Canada
| TV channel | Streaming | |
|---|---|---|
| USA | — | ESPN+ |
| Canada | Sportsnet One | Sportsnet World Now, Sportsnet Now |
| UK | ITV4 | ITVX |
| Australia | — | Paramount+ |
| New Zealand | Sky Sport 7 beIN Sports | beIN Sports Connect |
| India | — | — |
| Hong Kong | — | myTV Super, M Plus Live |
| Malaysia | Astro Super Sport 4 |
Astro GO, Sooka |
| Singapore | — | — |
UK: This match is broadcast live via ITV's television and streaming platforms in the UK.
USA: This match streams on ESPN+ for subscribers in the USA.
Canada: FA Cup matches in Canada are streamed through Sportsnet.
Australia: Fans in Australia can stream the match on Paramount+.