Manchester United

Manchester United v Reading
The Emirates FA Cup Third Round
Old Trafford
Saturday 5th January 2019

12:30pm

Journey Time to the ground: 4 hours 30 minutes.  We picked my sister up just before 7am and after a short stop at Norton Canes services to get some breakfast we were parked up in the Lowry Outlet Mall just before 11:30am.

Ticket Price: £45 although Reading Football Club subsidised this to £30, the maximum price away fans are charged in the Premier League.

Programme Price: £3.50

This was my second visit to Old Trafford, although it was my first for a football match having previously seen the Rugby League World Cup Final here in 2013.  As this was a cup game, Reading had an extended allocation so we were sat in the East Stand Upper Tier.  This is not the usual away end and was up quite a few flights of steps which was a little bit of a struggle for me having had an ACL reconstruction a couple of months previously!  It seemed as through Reading fans were in the whole of the Upper Tier with Manchester United fans in the Lower Tier below.  The leg room was adequate and the view from our seats was very good.

To the left of the East Stand is the Sir Bobby Charlton Stand, a single-tiered all-seater stand.  Although this is the smallest stand at Old Trafford, it is the main stand and houses the team dug-outs at its front.  Opposite the East Stand is the Stretford End, which is a huge two-tiered all-seater stand where the most vociferous Manchester United fans tend to congregate.  To the right of the East Stand is the Sir Alex Ferguson Stand which is another huge two-tiered all-seater stand.

The first-half saw a little bit of history for Reading when Manchester United were given a penalty with the use of VAR.  Juan Mata was adjudged to have been fouled by Omar Richards although the decision didn't go down too well with the Reading fans at Mata had laid the ball through to Fred who was in an offside position.  Mata stepped forward and send Anssi Jaakkola the wrong way from the spot in the 22nd minute.  Romelu Lukaku doubled United's lead in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, latching onto Alexis Sanchez's through ball before rounding Jaakkola and slotting into the empty net.

The second-half was a fairly even affair with both sides creating chances, and although Reading continued to fight, they were unable to grab a consolation goal. 

Attendance: 73,918 with 3,048 Reading fans.

Atmosphere:  The atmosphere was really good.  The Reading fans were up for the game and were noisy throughout the game.  The Man United fans were also up for the game and right behind the team, now that form has started to pick up since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has taken temporary charge of the team.

Journey Time home: 4 hours.  With the game being an early kick-off and finishing before 3pm, we decided to have a look around the Lowry Gallery in Salford Quays which was well worth a visit.  We had a late lunch/early dinner at The Real China in the Lowry Outlet and had a look into a couple of shops before leaving around 4:30pm.  We stopped at Stafford services and Cherwell Valley services on the way home to get fuel and were dropping my sister home around 8:30pm.

 

Although I had been looking forward to the trip to Manchester, I was worried that we were going to be humiliated.  However the team showed some real spirit and if we can carry that into the league then we will stay up.  On both of my visits to Old Trafford I've been slightly disappointed, as although the ground feels big, it doesn't feel as impressive as it should.