Manchester United became the second name in the hat for the FA Cup fourth round after sealing a comfortable 4-0 victory against Championship opponents Reading, giving Jose Mourinho’s side a thrilling victory.
Now enjoying their best run of form for eight years, Manchester United look to be back at their best and will fancy their chances of retaining the FA Cup after Louis Van Gaal’s side lifted the first trophy in the post-Alex Ferguson era last May.
With Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford on the scoresheet, many United players were at their best today and it shows the depth in the squad that Mourinho has available to him, which gives them a good omen in their quest to secure a top-four spot.
United were always going to be favourites against United but Reading’s performance was not the sort of display many would have expected from the Royals and Jaap Stam’s side have a lot to do.
Here, we’ve identified five things we learned from Manchester United’s FA Cup victory.
Rooney is a legend
Netting after just seven minutes against Reading yesterday afternoon, the England international joined Sir Bobby Charlton at the top of Manchester United’s all-time scoring record and put in one of his best performances in recent memory at Old Trafford.
His early goal definitely lifted his confidence and Rooney, having beaten Charlton’s England record last year, will now be looking to make the United record his own and the headlines are ready to be written next weekend when the Red Devils clash with arch-rivals Liverpool.
Rashford back on form
Entering the match without a goal since the end of September, a run of 18 matches, Marcus Rashford struck twice in the final 15 minutes of the game. Whilst he missed numerous chances before finally finding the net, his brace should be a real confidence boost.
It’s been a difficult season for Rashford, who’s had to contend with playing outside of his favoured position for the majority of the side, but his goals yesterday could help the youngster bounce back and become a huge player for the club once again.
United are contenders
The defending champions showed that they’re not only contenders to win the FA Cup again come May but the Red Devils should also not be ruled-out in other competitions, including the Premier League and Europa League.
Whilst they’ve been off the pace in the league, United are now enjoying a fine winning run and could rise into the top-four next weekend. Yesterday’s victory in the FA Cup will raise their spirits and saw them claim their best winning run in eight years, a superb record.
Mourinho back on his best
Woeful at Chelsea last season and looking to be stuck in the initial few months of his tenure at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho has got his side back to their best form and the Portuguese boss deserves plenty of credit.
He still needs to adjust his tactics at times, especially when up against the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea, but the United board and fanbase will be relieved to see that it seems they made the right decision in appointing the former Real Madrid and Inter Milan boss.
Life without Zlatan
On the bench today, and not being introduced, Manchester United showed they’re not overly reliant on their veteran striker and Jose Mourinho now has a big decision to make ahead of the clash with Liverpool next week, as three forwards scored against Reading.
Wayne Rooney was back to his best and Marcus Rashford looked bright, whilst Anthony Martial will also be pushing after he impressed. Mourinho is still likely to go with Ibrahimovic but, as we mentioned previously, it showed the depth his squad have.
