Manchester United: Wayne Rooney equals Bobby Charlton's record as United ease past Reading

Wayne Rooney, at last, got the record he has wanted all season. The England forward is now the joint top scorer for Manchester United, joining the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton. Rooney scored the opening goal of the FA Cup third round tie against Reading, sending Manchester United on their way to a comfortable victory at Old Trafford and eighth in a row in all competitions.

FA Cup third round schedule

Needing a goal to make it 249 in his Manchester United career, Rooney, starting this game after missing the festive fixtures because of a knock, made it 1-0 via his right knee in just the seventh minute, before Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford also got on the scoresheet to complete a 4-0 victory over Reading, the Championship team managed by former United favourite Jaap Stam.

Rashford got the chances train rolling for Manchester United by firing a shot just wide of the target, before Rooney forced the first save off Ali Al Habsi. Marcos Rojo played a nice long ball over the top, and Rooney's first touch was perfect, but his left-footed finish across goal was well kept out by the Reading goalkeeper.

Manchester United were so dominant in the early part of the game that a goal was inevitable and you just felt this was going to be Rooney's day. Martial ran at the Reading defence from the left, cut the ball back to Juan Mata, whose mishit shot was set to go wide. Rooney, though, just hung a leg out and the ball hit his right knee to loop in.

Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Alex Ferguson both cheered loudly as Rooney finally joined the former as the joint top scorer for Manchester United.

It was 2-0 soon after with Rooney, this time, getting the assist. Martial played a one-two with his captain before slotting the ball into the bottom corner, a slight deflection aiding his cause.

Reading slowly came back into the game and Stam will know his team could have been only a goal down at halftime had Joey Van Den Berg's shot been deflected onto the target, like it should have been done, by Liam Moore.

Jose Mourinho, though, will feel his team should have been 3-0 or 4-0 up at the break, with Marcus Rashford missing a couple more really presentable chances. The England international, playing as the centre-forward, fired into the side netting from an angle after rounding the goalkeeper, before off another chance from a similar position, he could not force the ball past Al Habsi.

Rooney nearly went past Charlton as the sole leader in goals for Manchester United early in the second half, but his attempt on the rebound, after an initial save, was well kept out by Al Habsi.

Reading were quite good with the ball, bringing that confidence from their solid performances in the Championship, but Manchester United were always a level or two up, with the Premier League side able to carve out chances much more frequently than Stam's team, as evidenced by the ones in the 75^th and 79^th minutes, which saw Rashford get his first goals since September.

The first one came via a pass from Michael Carrick, with Rashford running clear of the Reading defence, before, this time, providing an assured finish. The second was comical, as Al Habsi, who otherwise had a good game, making several saves, took too long with the ball at his feet, allowing Rashford to pinch the ball and smash it into an empty net.