Article by Mark Graham, Stats Nerd

Match Review
F.A. Cup 5th Round  Manchester United 1 v 1 Reading, Old Trafford, 17.15, Saturday 17th February 2007.
Goals: Manchester United: Carrick (45)   Reading: Gunnarsson (67)
Attendance: 70,608

Steve Coppell made a mockery of the press in the "reserves" rumbling debate as his side although not offering much going forward earned a deserved replay at the Madejski stadium after holding United to a 1-1 draw.  Michael Carrick collected his 1st FA Cup goal in a United shirt with a sweet long range effort which should be the start of a regular thing, however his strike was matched by Brynjar Gunnarsson who scored from a corner unmarked on the penalty box with a powerful long range header.

SAF rested, Ferdinand, Giggs, Neville, EVDS, Evra, Scholes & with Wayne Rooney banned United brought in Brown, Heinze, Fletcher, OGS.
SAF's can now afford to play different players in defence & attack but the central midfield area beyond Scholes & Carrick is a barren land, with Fletcher, Smith & O'Shea the only players on United's books who can stake claim to this position far short of what is required.

Imagine if Owen Hargreaves had been signed, the Reds would in your Editors opinion be happy in all positions & as football is not a perfect world you can only see with the eyes you were given and so Fletcher & the rest are our back up.

As expected United had plenty of chances & possession but finishing deserted the Reds as Ronaldo as guilty as any in a Red Shirt missed several chances with his finishing in no way matching his brilliant attacking running play.

As the game wore on Reading's only outlet seemed to be Seol Ki-Hyeon who gave Heinze a time on the right the Korean was successful at delivering his crosses however none seemed to be on the end of the delivery's & United coped easily.  Reading's best chance before there eventual goal was a Ulises de la Cruz effort which he narrowly missed.

Park like Ronaldo had a chances for the Reds but like his wing partner his finishing was poor and didn't match his running.

United's Captain OGS would find the ball in the back of the net but was ruled offside after Park blocked a clearance the ball found Ole, and in typical Solskjaer fashion his converted his chance through the legs of the keeper only for replays to show he was in-fact onside, when the referee has decided he wasn't.

Carrick deep into injury time then threaded a shot thorough a busy penalty box after being fed by Ronaldo and found the net bulging and with seconds left the half time whistle was blown and United found themselves ahead.

United for the second phase of the match continue like the 1st as Ronaldo's shooting boots were left in the dressing room again, Park combined with Ronaldo but his shot went just wide & Solskjaer was the next provided but again he left himself & the Old Trafford crowd frustrated.

Toward the end of the game at 1-1 SAF brought on Scholes, Evra & Larsson & Aussie keeper Federici had to produce an amazing save to keep the tie level.

With only seconds left United could have snatched it as the Reds broke on a counter only this time it was the finishing of Louis Saha who was the lasted Reds attacked to loose his shooting ability confirming a trip to Reading for the replay..

United Starting Line-up
Rant Ratings in parenthesis
Kuszczak (6); Brown (6), Vidic (7), Silvestre (6), Heinze (5); Park (8), Fletcher (5), Carrick (8), Ronaldo (6); Solskjaer (5), Saha (5).

Subs Used: Larsson (7) for Solskjaer (73 mins), Evra (6) for Heinze (73 mins), Scholes (6) for Park (73 mins).
Subs not used: Heaton, O'Shea.

United's Man of the Match
Ji Sung Park was again superb especially in the 1st half, his shooting and crossing can be improved upon but credit to him he outshined Ronaldo on this occasion..

Rants Reaction
Another game where the reds looked disjointed, but not to take ANYTHING away from Reading who came and did a brilliant job and hereby deserve the replay.

The team SAF picked was good enough and created chances, but didn't finish

Was Rant's Prediction Right?
We said 3-1, United Rant 7 v 31 Wrong Predictions.

Milestones
Michael Carrick's 1st FA Cup goal of his United career & 2nd goal overall.
Ji Sung Park's 60th competitive appearance in a United Shirt.
Paul Scholes is now tied with United Legend Joe Spence on 510 competitive career appearances

Miscellaneous Info
United’s next match is on Tuesday 20th February 2007 (A) to Lille OSC  in the UCL, 19.45pm K.O.