Wayne Rooney equalled Sir Bobby Charlton’s Manchester United goalscoring record as the Red Devils eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Reading.

Rooney was on hand to deflect home Juan Mata’s flick within the opening 10 minutes to set the ball rolling and equal Sir Bobby’s record of 249 goals.

Anthony Martial extended the lead with a sumptuous finish into the far corner before Marcus Rashford completed the rout with a brace, the last as the result of an Ali Al-Habsi howler.

The victory was United’s eighth win on the bounce, their best run for eight years despite Jose Mourinho making nine changes to the side that defeated West Ham United in the Premier League.

TALKING POINT

Rooney equals Charlton record. It’s been a long time coming for Rooney, who scored his first goals for United with a hat-trick against Fenerbahce nine years ago now.

He can break the record properly in the League Cup semi-final first leg against Hull City in midweek, or Liverpool in the league next weekend, but how many will he score?

He is no longer a starter for United and may have to fill his boots before the season is out, as there's no guarantee he will be at United for 2017-18.