What do you do when the afternoon seems determined to end in frustration; when every chance you create is not finished, when most of your shots fly over the crossbar, when the goalkeeper brilliantly saves your one good strike? If you’re Wayne Rooney, you keep trying and you never stop believing.

Seventy-seven minutes had passed and the game had draw written all over it. But Rooney made one more run, Carlos Tevez played the sweetest of passes and the finish was magical, easily good enough to decide a fine match. United’s second, scored by Ronaldo, came deep into stoppage time and at a point when the entire Reading team was vigorously pursuing the goal that would have given them a draw.

You noticed the way Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated that clinching goal and understood how delicately balanced things had been. “It was a really open game,” said Ferguson afterwards, “and our attacking play was not careful enough. We scored at the right time and held on. Credit to Reading, who never stopped working and made us work very hard.”

If non-stop effort deserves to be rewarded, Reading should have taken something from the game. They were well organised, committed and willing to chase every ball. “For 70 minutes we gave as good as we got,” said Reading manager Steve Coppell. “You can take positives from the game but we’re in a results business. If we’d nicked three points, it would have made history here. That’s how big the opposition are.”

Fabio Capello was present and it would be interesting to hear his verdict because it was a strange match. At times United threatened to overrun their opponents, and there were other spells when you felt Reading would get a draw or even an unlikely victory. To understand how resilient Reading were, consider the performance of Kalifa Cisse.

Yesterday the team was so stuck for central defenders that Coppell had to deploy the central midfielder at the heart of his defence. It wasn’t much of an ask, was it? First Premier League start at centre-back and he had Rooney and Tevez breathing down his neck, Ronaldo lurking just behind. Like a duck to water, Cisse took to his new role.

He snapped at the ankles of his adversaries and was always looking to get to the ball first. His attitude was precisely what you want against a team as good as United: never reckless and never too respectful.

What made the game intriguing was that for all the defending they had to do, Reading were perfectly capable of creating something at the other end. Nothing like the number of chances that fell to United’s attackers but there was always the chance that Reading would take one of theirs and spread panic through United’s ranks. Dave Kitson was a constant danger.

It was enjoyable to watch because Reading weren’t there merely to defend and so United’s better players had plenty of space. Ronaldo had a half chance in the second minute, cutting inside Nicky Shorey before firing his shot just wide. Ten minutes later he had another opportunity but again put it just wide of the post. Tevez then drew a fine save from Marcus Hahnemann and one settled in for a sustained siege on the Reading goal.

It didn’t work out like that because the home side were not afraid to play. Bobby Convey won the ball from Wes Brown on halfway, took it forward and played a neat pass through for Leroy Lita, who had got behind Rio Ferdinand.

For half a second it seemed he would score, but Edwin van der Sar and a quickly recovering Ferdinand blocked his effort. The ball ricocheted to Kitson, but Nemanja Vidic got back to make a fine block and save his team.

The chances kept coming. Owen Hargreaves struck a magnificent free kick that produced an equally fine save from Hahnemann. It flew towards the top far-corner but climbing acrobatically, the goalkeeper palmed it away to safety. Then, at the other end, Van der Sar cleared hastily from just outside his box, the ball came flying towards Kitson near halfway and, without taking a touch, he struck first time with the inside of his left foot.

From 50 yards the ball flew high towards the goal. Van der Sar couldn’t get back in time and just as one contemplated the most beautiful of goals, the covering Ferdinand appeared from nowhere to head the ball away from goal. It was like that, some of the best moments were delivered by both team’s defences. Early in the second half, Hahnemann got himself in a muddle at a United corner, pushed the ball onto Kitson’s shoulder and as it rebounded, Cisse reacted brilliantly to hook it off the line.

Would United ever score? Rooney struck a shot beautifully, Hahnemann produced a fine save but only pushed the ball into Ryan Giggs’s path. A goal seemed certain but either Giggs is slowing down or Ivar Ingimarsson is very quick. The central defender got there and the chance was lost. Giggs had come on for Ji-Sung Park at half-time and never quite adapted to the rhythm of a thrilling match.

At the other end, Kitson got on the end of a through ball and, for a moment, you expected him to lob Van der Sar but the goalkeeper got out quickly to block his effort. United’s apprehension was easy to detect, Nani came on for the subdued Hargreaves and as the game went into the last quarter, Reading’s midfielders Stephen Hunt and James Harper were getting more and more of the ball.

The match-winning moment reflected the never-say-die attitude of Tevez and Rooney. The Argentinian picked up the ball just inside Reading’s half and saw Rooney make the run. The pass came high towards the striker and with the inside of his right foot, he guided the ball into the far corner.

If that was pure class, the second goal from Ronaldo was simple athleticism. Through an absent defence, he ran and ran before firing the ball past Hahnemann and into the corner of the net.

United had been in a hell of a game. And we had been treated to one.

Match stats

Star man: Kalifa Cisse (Reading)
Player ratings: Reading: Hahnemann 8, Murty 6, Ingimarsson 6, Cisse 9, Shorey 7, Doyle 6, Hunt 7, Harper 7, Convey 5 (Matejovsky 80min), Lita 6 (Long 83min), Kitson 7
Man Utd: Van der Sar 7, Brown 6, Ferdinand 6, Vidic 7, Evra 6, Ronaldo 7, Carrick 6, Hargreaves 5 (Nani 70min), Park 5 (Giggs ht, 5), Rooney 7, Tevez 7 (Fletcher 81min)
Yellow cards: Reading: Convey
Man Utd: Ferdinand
Referee: S Bennett
Attendance: 24,135