Fergie admits United were lucky to win

LONDON - MANCHESTER United are lucky to remain in the FA Cup.

The admission came from Alex Ferguson after the club's 3-2 fifth-round win at Reading in Tuesday's replay.

United had one foot in the quarter-finals after Gabriel Heinze, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored inside the opening six minutes.

But plucky Reading hit back through Dave Kitson and substitute Leroy Lita.

And they almost forced extra-time when Brynjar Gunnarsson hit the bar in the last minute.

'We rode our luck. There's no doubt about that because Reading absolutely pummelled us in the second half,' admitted Ferguson.

'It was an incredible tie. I thought it was heading for extra time, because we lost the momentum when Reading scored their second goal.'

The key question for Ferguson was: How did it come to this?

Admittedly, United were not at full strength, with A-list players such as Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes on the bench if required.

But, if this was a diluted version of United, then Steve Coppell's team were positively watered-down.

There were eight changes from the side that lost to Middlesbrough in the Premiership at the weekend, and yet they almost came back, reported The Independent.

Which only gives hope to Chelsea that Liverpool can help reduce the gap at the top when United travel to Anfield on Saturday for a key Premier League encounter.

For one thing, Liverpool will not be as generous as Reading were in what manager Steve Coppell called 'three minutes, 20 seconds of madness' - the time between United's three goals.

Coppell had kept good his promise to field a near identical reserve line-up to the one he played at Old Trafford 10 days earlier in the 1-1 draw.

But Reading were woeful in every respect at the start.

The first among the guilty was Australian goalkeeper Adam Federici. When Heinze let fly first time from 20 metres, he let the ball squirm in under him.

Two minutes later, captain Rio Ferdinand struck a long ball to Louis Saha from deep in his own half. Saha took the ball on his chest and found the target with an angled drive, which Federici should have stopped.

By this time, Reading were in pieces. United did not have to wait long for their third goal.

Kieron Richardson's long ball picked out Ole Gunner Solskjaer, who found himself in so much space. The Norwegian took his chance beautifully with the outside of his right foot. But, to their credit, Reading did not give up. Instead, they gave United the fright of their lives.

A side that had won five successive home games before this replay reduced the deficit in the 23rd minute, when they earned themselves a corner.

John Oster crossed from the right, Ivar Ingimarsson flicked the ball on and Kitson beat van der Sar with a close-range header.

United continued to look dangerous when they attacked but so did Reading.

Seol Ki Hyeon tested van der Sar and so did Bikey, before Ferguson sent on Rooney and Ronaldo, and Coppell unleashed Lita.

When Lita finally struck in the 84th minute, rising majestically to meet a Ulises de la Cruz cross with a header, Reading seemed set to achieve the impossible.

Gunnarsson's shot would have topped it all, if not for the bar.

Said Coppell: 'At 3-0 down, I thought we might get absolutely hammered. But we didn't want to whimper out of the competition.

'I can't blame any of the players, but I question my own tactics if anything, because I decided to play an extra man at the back and that was a mistake.

'Still, it is not often you can say that there is honour in defeat.'

Ferguson was quick to move on, blaming Reading for the knocks that Saha picked up.

'They kicked him so many times, he had to come off,' said Ferguson. 'I don't think I have ever seen a player kicked or fouled so many times in one match and I can't believe that only two of their players were booked.

'We have had three away games in a row and now we have the big one at Liverpool on Saturday - and that is the most important.'

'It's not often I say that there is honour in defeat, but I can give that compliment tonight. We are warriors, we do not lay down and die, we keep coming back again and again and that is one of our best qualities.

STEVE COPPELL, Reading manager

'It was an incredible game and I was thinking to myself I have to prepare for extra-time. We rode our luck. Without question, with us scoring the goals so quickly, it gave us the impression that this was easy.'

ALEX FERGUSON, Manchester United manager