Cristiano Ronaldo gave Sir Alex Ferguson the 65th birthday present he wanted as Manchester United stretched their lead at the top of the Premiership to six points with a 3-2 win over 10-man Reading.

For the third time in eight days over the Festive period, Ronaldo struck twice to take his season's tally to 11 and widen the gap on chasing champions Chelsea.

United were forced to endure a nervy few minutes at the death after Leroy Lita had dragged Reading back into the contest in stoppage time.