Royal Late Show Not Enough

It was once again a case of too little, too late, as another battling Royals performance ended in narrow defeat against one of the country`s true greats.

A Reading side making their first trip to the highly impressive Emirates Stadium, the new home of Arsenal at Ashburton Grove, gave their hosts a late scare this afternoon but the Gunners overcame their tardy test and held on for what was a deserved victory.

Arsene Wenger`s men, who are arguably the only team this season to have thoroughly out-played the Royals, gave another dominant performance as we suffered our third successive defeat, adding to those already experienced at the hands of both Middlesbrough and Manchester United earlier this week.

Arsenal took control of the game from an early stage, and but for some last-ditch blocks from our on-loan Cameroonian, Andre Bikey, we may have suffered an early setback similar to that encountered at our Madejski Stadium home when the two sides met earlier this season.

Arsenal`s own on-loan star, the powerful Brazilian figure of Julio Baptista, shot wide after a neat turn inside the Reading area, before Marcus Hahnemann performed early heroics to deny Freddie Ljungberg after a trademark counter-attacking move.

The ball travelled the distance of the pitch within just seconds, as Alexander Hleb picked up a loose ball following a Glen Little set piece that was aimed towards the Arsenal goal. The Belarus international attacked at speed, before releasing Ljungberg who applied a rushed effort that Hahnemann did well to swat away.

Leroy Lita did prove to be an early threat for the Royals though, as his increasingly impressive hold-up play and powerful running caught the eyes of the watching North London faithful.

The highly talented Spaniard, nineteen-year-old Cesc Fabregas, surprised even himself as he somehow contrived to miss an absolute sitter on the half hour mark. Some quick interchanged passing found Julio Baptista running through the Reading defence, and in particularly unselfish fashion, the Brazilian chose to square the ball rather than applying what would be a fairly routine finish to an effective attack.

Fabregas ended up in a tangle, though, as he completely missed his kick and let an incredible opportunity to open his Premiership account for the season go begging from just six yards out. With Hahnemann stranded from closing down Baptista, Ivar Ingimarsson was fortunately on hand to clear before Fabregas could help himself to another bite of the goal scoring cherry.

As predicted, Arsenal had been the dominant force in the first half, but in a fashion typical to the way they are currently running, the failed to apply the finishes that their fluent passing displays deserve.

With the second half continuing with Arsenal on the front foot, Fabregas seeked to make amends for his earlier disaster with a thunderous effort from twenty yards. Thankfully for the travelling Royals fans, our American stopper Marcus Hahenmann was equal to it, producing a splendid diving save to push the ball behind for a corner as it arrowed towards the postage stamp.

Hahnemann`s fine stop proved to be in vain, though, as Arsenal soon found themselves ahead after Gilberto Silva`s penalty kick.

Gael Clichy broke from his left-back berth with incredible speed and guile, and after playing a quick one-two with Ljungberg, found himself rapidly advancing on the Reading eighteen-yard line.

Andre Bikey was helpless as he allowed the young Frenchman to get goal side of him, and in a last minute attempt at thwarting the left-back`s attack, he made a clumsy challenge that sent his opponent sprawling to the ground, and referee Chris Foy showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

Stand-in Gunners` captain Gilberto placed the ball down, and despite an accurate guess and a faint hand from Hahnemann, nestled the ball in the bottom corner from twelve yards to put his team ahead.

The Gunners continued to press the Royals, and a combination of resilient defending and good fortune saw us scramble the ball clear on a number of occasions until the decisive second goal was struck.

Baptista found acres of space to run into, and despite his best efforts at mis-controlling the ball, he worked his way into the area before again making a hash of his touch. In an unfortunate manner, though, Royals skipper Graeme Murty was equal to the Brazilian`s inelegance, and completely mis-queued his attempted clearance.

Baptista seized a second opportunity, and this time stabbed the ball past Hahnemann and into the corner of the Reading net to put the home side ahead by two goals.

Steve Sidwell, who started his career as an Arsenal player before being released by Arsene Wenger in search of regular first team football, had two great opportunities to net against his former club.

Firstly, his free-header from a Stephen Hunt corner was glanced narrowly over Jens Lehmann`s bar, before he passed on a decent opportunity from only eight yards.

A high ball was knocked back into the Arsenal area by means of Glen Little`s head, and Dave Kitson stepped over the loose ball to allow it to run to his strike partner, Leroy Lita. Lita was hurried by his marker, and the ball fell to Sidwell who struck a firm drive towards the bottom corner that narrowly evaded the upright.

At the opposite end, Baptista was again involved as he had a penalty appeal waved away after what appeared to be a rather exaggerated fall. His heavy touch gave Hahnemann a sniff as he ran towards goal, and the American connected with both ball and player as he slid out to intervene.

Lita then had a brilliant chance to get on the scoresheet, as some neat passing in the Reading midfield saw Glen Little play a perfect angled through-ball as we looked to replicate Arsenal`s free-flowing style ourselves.

The striker took a few touches to set himself into a good shooting position, but unfortunately, Leroy hit his shot tamely and the controversial Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann gathered the ball comfortably.

Arsenal continued to swarm forward, but they found Ivar Ingimarsson in good form as he stepped in for a number of crucial interceptions.

The Royals earned themselves a lifeline with a corner from the left. Substitute John Oster, who in my opinion should be in the starting line-up given his recent cameo performances, delivered an enticing in-swinger, and Arsenal`s Phillipe Senderos diverted the ball goalwards with his very first touch under pressure from fellow substitute Brynjar Gunnarsson.

Cesc Fabregas` wish came true, as he finally found himself on the scoresheet. Fortunately enough for the Royals, it was at the wrong end though, as he stuck out a boot and prodded the ball past Lehmann into the Arsenal net. Had the Spaniard not been there to apply the finish, Lita would have surely helped himself to a goal anyway as he was in a good position to finish himself.

There was then an almighty scramble as Reading looked for a leveller, and Lehmann produced a superb low save to keep out Steve Sidwell.

A high ball ricocheted about the Arsenal area, before Dave Kitson intelligently headed into the path of the unmarked Sidwell. Hitting a powerful first-time drive, Sidwell`s effort was sent thundering towards the near post but the German goalkeeper produced an excellent save down low to his left to deny us the equaliser.

The Royals continued to throw bodies forward, but Arsenal held on for three points that they deserved given the overall focus of the day`s play, although Reading gave them a fright with the late goal and, in truth, had chances to even the score.

Perhaps we could have frustrated Arsenal by adopting a negative ‘every man behind the ball` approach to the game and playing on the counter attack, but it is a credit to both Steve Coppell and the players that we visited the Emirates with our usual game in mind, and tried to pass the ball as we know best.

Unfortunately, though, there is no team in the country that can match Arsenal when it comes to quick interchange and delightful one-touch passing, so the result was a fair one in my eyes and I am pleased to support a team who does not set out to simple stifle the opposition.