A rare assist from England's comeback man Rio Ferdinand helped Manchester United capitalise on Manchester City's misfortunes earlier in the day to move a massive 15 points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League.
Wayne Rooney's 13th goal in 17 games was enough to see off managerless Reading and ensure that Sir Alex Ferguson's men have one hand on a record 20th League championship.
The match was as grim as the Manchester weather, but Ferguson will not really care. With such a runaway lead, United could clinch the title at Stoke City on April 14 with six matches to spare and that is some achievement.
Man Utd: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Buttner, Welbeck, Giggs, Anderson (Kagawa 85), Young (Carrick 74), Rooney, van Persie.
Reading: Taylor, Kelly (Morrison 88), Pearce, Mariappa, Shorey, Karacan, Leigertwood, McAnuff, Robson-Kanu (Le Fondre 70), McCleary, Hunt (Blackman 70).
There is even a remote chance of winning it against City on Monday, April 8 - but that would require City rearranging a fixture against West Bromwich Albion before their trip to Old Trafford … and losing it.
Not that Ferguson will allow his players to count their chickens whatever the scenario, after seeing them throw away an eight-point lead last season, allowing City to win the title on the final day.
'People can say what they want about the title being over, but you don't get points and medals for being complacent,' he snapped.
The general consensus is that this vintage is not one of Ferguson's greatest United teams. But it may be his best squad in terms of depth, which is why they keep grinding out results.
Ferguson wrote in his programme notes of the 'draining' nature of the recent Champions League defeat against Real Madrid, and it looked that way.
The Dutchman has scored just once in 10 games and the closest he came to returning to the goal trail was a fierce free-kick beaten away by Stuart Taylor.
However, United have so many match-winners, it is almost impossible for a hard-working but limited team like Reading to survive for 90 minutes.
He strode forward into the opposition half like the Rio of old, drove on past three defenders and released a pass to Rooney just when he seemed about to lose control.
'After that, it was a tough game but we hung on. It is always nice to score, deflection or not. And thankfully it won us the game.'
Ferguson, who has admitted defeat in advising Ferdinand to retire from international football and confirmed that the defender will end a two-year absence by joining up with the England squad tomorrow for World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Montenegro, was happy to see his game-changing impact yesterday.
'Rio broke into the midfield area. He was always good at that, he doesn't do it as much now, but it paid off for us today,' said Ferguson.
Of the anxious late moments which saw the home fans baying for the final whistle as Chris Smalling ran down time in the corner, the manager said approvingly: 'I think the players are conscious of the importance of games now. That concentration has helped us get the result.'
Odds-on favourites for relegation and without a manager after sacking Brian McDermott, they were led out at Old Trafford by academy boss Eamonn Dolan, who enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame, bellowing instructions from the technical area for the entire duration of the game.
Dolan's players did him proud. They restricted United to very few chances before Rooney's goal and responded well to the setback.
Hal Robson-Kanu saw a shot shave a post and the visitors appealed for a penalty when Nemanja Vidic appeared to barge Adrian Mariappa out of the way to reach a corner early in the second half. United could have scored more despite failing to move up the gears.
United are on course to break Premier League records for the number of points (95) and winning margin (18) and Ferguson is sensitive to unfavourable comparisons between this team and others he has managed.
'Most of the time we have played well this season,' he said, aware that yesterday they hadn't. 'We've had a great season.'
Via: [Live Football] SV Stuttgarter Kickers - Arminia Bielefeld - German 3. League
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