Manchester United edged into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Reading on Monday night but may have to make do without Phil Jones for their forthcoming matches after the England international suffered an ankle injury.
"If Nani keeps that form it makes my job more difficult now"
Sir Alex Ferguson
Nani, who replaced Jones in the first half, served a reminder of his attacking abilities by scoring the opening goal and setting up Javier Hernandez's strike, before Jobi McAnuff reduced the arrears with nine minutes remaining.
Indeed Nani was a thorn in the Royals' side for the entire 48 minutes he was on the pitch, striking the post with a volley from distance and forcing Adam Federici into a fine save at the end of the first period.
The visiting goalkeeper had already denied Danny Welbeck with a fine stop and also made a wonderful double save from Tom Cleverley and Ashley Young as United threatened to take control.
Nani eventually broke the deadlock on 69 minutes when he latched on to Antonio Valencia's pass to fire low past Federici. Within three minutes, and shortly after David de Gea had denied Adam le Fondre an equaliser at the other end, the Portuguese winger had set up Hernandez to head past the Australian.
McAnuff then dribbled into the area to beat De Gea with a smart finish but United held on for a sixth-round home tie against either Middlesbrough or Chelsea.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for Nani's match-winning performance and admitted his display has given him something of a selection headache. "He's got great talent, we know that," he said. "I had a feeling he would win the game for us. You could see he was right on form the moment he came on.
"He had two great strikes immediately and was a threat to them the whole night. It's a good addition. If he keeps that form it makes my job more difficult now."
"We'll have to assess Jones. It's an ankle injury so I'd imagine he'll not be ready for Saturday anyway – but we'll see what he's like after that"
Sir Alex Ferguson
There are concerns, however, over Jones, who damaged his ankle while attempting to tackle McAnuff and had to leave the ground on crutches.
The versatile defender, who did such an excellent job in shackling Ronaldo during United's UEFA Champions league round of 16 first-leg encounter with Real Madrid, will have a scan to determine the severity of the injury which seems almost certain to exclude him from Saturday's Barclays Premier League trip to Queens Park Rangers.
"We'll have to assess him," added Ferguson. "It's an ankle injury so I'd imagine he'll not be ready for Saturday anyway - but we'll see what he's like after that."
FA Cup quarter-final draw
Oldham Athletic or Everton v Wigan Athletic
Manchester City v Barnsley
Manchester United v Middlesbrough or Chelsea
Millwall v Blackburn Rovers
(ties to take place on 9/10 March)
FA Cup fourth round replay result
Sunday 17 February
Chelsea 4-0 Brentford
FA Cup fifth round results
Monday 18 February
Manchester United 2-1 Reading
Sunday 17 February
Manchester City 4-0 Leeds United
Huddersfield Town 1-4 Wigan Athletic
Saturday 16 February
Luton 0-3 Millwall
Arsenal 0-1 Blackburn Rovers
MK Dons 1-3 Barnsley
Oldham Athletic 2-2 Everton
