Reserves fall to strong Arsenal side

A strong looking Arsenal side beat a Reading XI outfit at Underhill last night, with Reading’s line up containing a mix of youth and experience.

The main pre-match hype was to do with Jack Wilshere’s return to the football pitch, after a serious ankle problem which kept him out of the majority of last season. The England international started the game, alongside fellow first-team player Emmanuel Frimpong, who was also making a comeback on his return from injury.

Reading also featured some of their first team contingent, with Adam Le Fondre and Jason Roberts up front, with Danny Guthrie lining up behind them. The likes of Sean Morrison, Stuart Taylor and Lawson D’Ath we’re also involved. However, the Royals lost 2-0 to the Gunners in a spirited performance against Terry Brown’s side.

Serge Gnabry opened the scoring just before the break, then Arsenal doubled the lead with a goal from defender Chuba Akpom. Despite the defeat, Royals coach Chris Cummins will take great heart from this defeat. Wilshere lasted 74 minutes at Underhill and is likely to make his first-team comeback against Reading in the cup in three weeks time.

Reading: Taylor, Partridge, Keown, Morrison, Arnold, Tshibola, Guthrie, D’Ath, J Taylor, Le Fondre, Roberts
Subs: Webb, Henly, Losasso, Long, Samuel

Arsenal: Shea, Sagna, Hajrovic, Miquel, Santos, Eisfed, Coquelin, Wilshere, Frimpong, Gnabry, Akpom
Subs: Meade, Charles-Cook, Yennaris, Olsson, Bellerin