Manchester United breeze past Reading FC in FA Cup clash
In a resounding 4-0 victory over Reading on this day in 2017, Wayne Rooney tied Sir Bobby Charlton’s record for Manchester United goals.
With more than 3,000 fans making the early start to go to Manchester for the 12.30pm kickoff, Reading, who were riding high and ranked third in the Championship, went to Old Trafford full of confidence.
Some had thought the Royals would give the Red Devils a fair shot, but they exceeded expectations under Manchester United icon Jaap Stam.
However, it was not to be as Jose Mourinho’s Premier League giants- themselves on a seven-match winning run- dominated from start to finish.
It took under 10 minutes for England captain Rooney to net his 249th goal for the club, equalling Charlton’s record set in 1973.
Despite having 18 shots, the Royals headed down the tunnel only two behind at the break, and it stayed that way until 15 minutes from time when a young Marcus Rashford came on the field.
In his first full season as a regular for his boyhood club, the forward struck twice in four minutes to add gloss to the score.
His second goal came gift-wrapped from goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi. A fan favourite and back-to-back Player of the Season winner as a Royal, the Oman legend was tackled in his own box for the fourth and final goal of the game.
After losing to Huddersfield Town in a penalty shootout, Reading would go on to finish third and make it to Wembley in May, but they were sadly denied promotion.
Mourinho and his team would win the EFL Trophy in the spring, but they would end sixth in the Premier League after losing to Chelsea in the FA Cup quarterfinals.
After Reading’s 2-0 loss in 2019 and 3-1 loss in 2022, it was the first of three trips to Old Trafford in five years.
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