Gunnarsson glory for Royals as United held
“The Reading fairy story goes on”, said Gary Lineker (actually, Gary, it’s fairy tale), “With scripts like this, it’s more Coppola than Coppell.” I’m assuming he didn’t mean Sofia-directed Lost in Translation. Actually, I’m not sure what he meant exactly, but it sounded good.
Gary’s words followed this afternoon’s televised FA Cup encounter between Reading and Man United which ended in a 1-1 draw. I’m pleased – no, very pleased – to add that my prediction of a draw was spot on.
Reading took control of the game early on, but it was United who scored first. Cristiano Ronaldo, who had tormented the Royals previously in the Premiership, teased Dave Kitson with his trademark stepover trick before passing to Michael Carrick. Carrick duly drove the ball into the net.
As the game wore on, Ronaldo continued to cause Reading problems, delighting the Old Trafford crowd with some nifty moves against Seol Ki-Hyeon (twice) and Nicky Shorey. Furthermore, the Portuguese player had three great opportunities to score – his first shot on goal was deflected off a Reading player, and his second was touched out of play by reserve Reading keeper Adam Federici.
The really exciting football, however, came in the final 30 minutes, with the Royals equalising via a beautiful Brynjar Gunnarsson header, swooping over a crowded box.
Both sides played with extra urgency. Substitute Stephen Hunt in the 90th minute was tearing down the middle of the pitch surrounded by five red shirts. A minute later Louis Saha struck wide in his bid for glory.
Super sub Henrik Larsson also had a couple of good opportunities to settle the game, but ultimately he could not transform proceedings as he did for Barcelona in last season’s Champions League Final.
Now we can look forward to a replay at the Madejski, and how about this for a new prediction: Reading to defeat Man United and progress to the next round.