SOCCER: Reading 2, Manchester Utd 3 This FA Cup tie appeared to end at the beginning, only to close in scenes of amazed excitement and desperate defending by the visitors. Manchester United had scored three goals in the first six minutes, but Reading somehow reassembled their self-belief.

Having just pulled off a fine save from Dave Kitson, Edwin van der Sar could not deny the home team their second goal in the 84th minute as substitute Leroy Lita powered home a header from Ulise de la Cruz's cross. Ingimar Gunnarsson hit the bar in stoppage time and the frantic conclusion to the night was in flagrant contradiction to its opening.

Romance is the enemy and United appeared to put it to flight. Reading had just four first-team regulars in the line-up, but that selection policy had been no hindrance when they drew 1-1 at Old Trafford. The visitors, too, had many fringe players in the team but many of them have such experience that there was high-level substance to the selection.

Reading manager Steve Coppell swiftly had to consider the 3-4-3 formation he had adopted, but by the time 4-4-2 was reinstated his men were 3-1 down.

Though there was an admirable commitment to fighting back, Kitson's goal in the middle of the first half simply tweaked a 3-0 deficit to 3-1. That in itself was not enough to dispel the annoyance with a horrible opening to the occasion.

After two minutes, a John O'Shea cut-back eluded Kieran Richardson and ran some 25 yards from goal. Gabriel Heinze struck it firmly enough but cannot have anticipated his first goal since August 2005. The effort found the net because Adam Federici let it squirm under his body. There was pathos in that for a goalkeeper who had been elected player of the round for his display at Old Trafford.

The Australian, who is understudy to Marcus Hahnemann, experienced an abrupt halt to the elation he has felt. Federici speaks of the time when, looking for his chance, he was "knocking on doors and sleeping on floors."

With four minutes gone it was far too simple for Louis Saha to dart between Ulises de la Cruz and Andre Bikey before finishing with an excellent shot.

The Frenchman has been downgraded since Henrik Larsson arrived on loan, but the latter will be going back to Sweden in a couple of weeks and the dynamism of Saha at the Madejski Stadium was encouraging for United.

Alex Ferguson had another small jolt of satisfaction here in the fifth minute. In a counter-attack, Richardson swung the ball out to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the right and the craftsman finisher squeezed a shot just inside the far post. There was nearly a fourth, but another Saha effort missed the target by a fraction.

In the circumstances Reading's spirit was remarkable, despite the fact that United were lax to concede a goal after 21 minutes. Seol Ki-Hyeon's corner was nodded on by Ivar Ingimarsson and headed in by Kitson.

With Edwin van der Sar needing to turn a drive by Seol behind at the close of the first half an air of competitiveness had been revived even if Reading's condition was still grave.

Belatedly this was the match that had been anticipated. There was an abundance of zest from Reading and the main question was whether they could combine it with the accuracy to close on the visitors with another goal. When a Seol cross was only half-cleared in the 53rd minute, excitement swelled in the crowd but Steve Sidwell's attempt flew high.

Know-how was almost entirely the preserve of United, who needed to take more care than they would have anticipated after such a start. They might have relaxed had Webb reduced Reading to 10 men as he seemed sure to do. The official had appeared to caution Bikey in the 20th minute and the centre-back brought down Saha after 63 minutes to receive another yellow.

There was a theory that Webb had got confused with his paperwork, but explanations followed that the initial booking had really gone to de la Cruz.

There was no numerical advantage in personnel for United and, with Federici reacting well to a deflected shot by Richardson, the lead was not extended in the 70th minute. Reading looked back in anguish on an earlier penalty appeal that had been ignored and they took credit for most of their display last night.

READING: Federici, De la Cruz, Gunnarsson, Bikey, Ingimarsson, Shorey, Ki-Hyeon (Little 68), Sidwell, Oster, Kitson, Doyle (Lita 71). Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Hunt, Sodje. Booked: De la Cruz, Bikey. Goals: Kitson 23, Lita 84.

MAN UTD: Van der Sar, Silvestre, Brown, Ferdinand, Heinze, Park, O'Shea, Fletcher, Richardson, Saha (Rooney 76), Solskjaer (Ronaldo 89). Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Smith, Scholes. Goals: Heinze 2, Saha 4, Solskjaer 6.

Referee: H Webb (S Yorkshire).