Brave Royals deny United
Brynjar Gunnarsson equalised for Steve Coppell's team
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Saturday, 17, Feb 2007 08:33
Reading's fairytale season continued as Steve Coppell's team held came from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round.
Icelandic defender Brynjar Gunnarsson stunned the Old Trafford faithful when he rose highest in the box to head home from a corner on 67 minutes.
Michael Carrick had given United a deserved lead when his sweetly struck shot from outside of the box squeezed past Adam Federici's right-hand post on the stroke of half-time.
Coppell, on his return to the stadium he illuminated as a player, had been criticised for dropping several first-team regulars, but Sir Alex Ferguson started with a team devoid of Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney.
Flying Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo was handed a starting berth however, and the 22-year-old began the match in ominous form.
Reading's own flamboyant wideman, South Korea's Seol Ki-hyeon, was a reliable outlet for the away team, but it appeared as if the Royals were missing the pace of benched in-form striker Leroy Lita.
It was Ronaldo who set Carrick up for the opening goal, but until then chances had been few and far between for either team, as Reading's unorthodox three-man defensive set-up frustrated Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Norwegian was however unfortunate to see a close-range effort chalked off after the assistant referee incorrectly adjudged him to have re-entered play from an offside position.
At the other end, Ecuadorian right-back Ulises de la Cruz should have done better when given time and space to shoot in the box, but he poked his left-foot shot wide of Tomasz Kuszczak's post.
After the break Ronaldo had three quickfire chances to grab a second and put the game beyond Reading's reach, but stand-in keeper Federici was equal to the forward's efforts.
Reading's equaliser came on the back of some sustained United pressure and led to the away team creating more chances in the remaining 20 minutes than they had done in the entire game up to that point.
First Seol's cross evaded both Kuszczak and onrushing Reading attackers, while Dave Kitson was unlucky to see his quick-thinking go unrewarded after benefiting from a mix-up between Nemanja Vidic and his goalkeeper.
Ferguson reacted to being pegged back to level terms by bringing on Henrik Larsson, Patrice Evra and Scholes, only to see the Swedish legend blow his chance after being picked out by Ronaldo's cross.
Then in the dying seconds, Saha broke free in the Reading half but elected to screw his shot wide of the right-hand post rather than square the ball to the better placed Larsson.