After the sides went in level at the break, with United dominating the proceedings, the match roared into life in the second half, and a brace from Casemiro was added to by a strike from Fred to put the Reds three goals up.

Despite a late goal from Reading's Amadou Mbengue, United’s defence was impressive too, meaning there were plenty of players who could stake claims for our Man of the Match award.

But who claimed it?

One Red emerged at the top of the voting by a landslide, with Casemiro receiving a whopping 84 per cent.

The Brazilian was, as ever, our enforcer in midfield, but it wasn’t his defensive tendencies that were most impressive against the Royals.

With the sides locked at 0-0, and an air of frustration starting to loom around Old Trafford, as the visitors sternly thwarted our attempts at goal, Casemiro was found inside the box by Antony after making a marauding run forward.

Our no.18 made no mistake and clipped the ball over Reading ‘keeper Joe Lumley to edge the Reds ahead with 54 minutes on the clock, and he wasn’t done there.

Just four minutes later, Casemiro picked the ball up way outside the box and arrowed an unstoppable drive into the bottom corner, via a slight deflection, to put United firmly in control of the tie.

The next closest to the Brazilian in the voting was his compatriot Antony, who got 10 per cent after he assisted the first goal and was a constant threat throughout.

He and Aaron Wan-Bissaka dovetailed effectively down the right and caused all sorts of problems for Reading left-back, Baba Rahman.

Antony moved into the middle for the latter stages of the match and had a golden opportunity to add a fourth to United’s tally, but got his footing wrong and the ball was gratefully grasped by Lumley on that occasion.

But Casemiro’s dominance on the pitch was evident, and that is reflected in our poll, making him our Man of the Match for the fifth time this season.

Congratulations, Case!