Reading 1 – 3 Arsenal: Arsenal Reprise Majestic Madejski Performance
Add comment November 13th, 2007
Last year Arsenal romped to a delightful 4-0 win over Reading with Thierry Henry at the heart of a stunning attacking display. Just over a year on, and last night Emmanuel Adebayor & Co led Arsenal to an equally impressive victory.
The warning signs were there just three minutes in when a misplaced Reading pass allowed Cesc to slide Adebayor in. Bearing down on goal, the African bent the ball round the goalkeeper but struck the outside of the post.
After that lucky escape, the Royals dug in and defended with their lives. It felt like we were the home side, sometimes having up to 85% of possession for long periods of the game. However, it took us until the 43rd minute to break through Reading’s entrenched defence. A move that began with a crunching Mathieu Flamini tackle ended with Adebayor cleverly playing in Hleb who squared for the onrushing Flamini to net his first goal of the season. An excellent goal, and a well deserved one for a player who was again outstanding.
This forced Reading to come out and play in the second half, and within six minutes they were suitably punished. Adebayor burst down the left and played in Hleb, who squared to find Fabregas in the box. The spaniard laid it back to Adebayor, who, with his first touch, curled an Henry-esque finish into the far corner to end his personal goal drought and claim his seventh goal this season. It was a goal of genuine class.
Within three minutes, he should have had another. A Reading corner was claimed by Almunia, and with seconds, via Hleb and Rosicky, Adebayor rounded Hanhemann and stroked home. Sadly, the linesman had wrongly flagged for offside.
No matter – the again excellent Alex Hleb made it three with 78 minutes played when he skipped into the area, jinked left and right, then showed just why he’s “The White Ronaldinho” with a George Best-like dragback to bewitch the keeper before firing into an empty net. Hleb scored a belter on this ground last season, and this wonderful finish was yet another link between two quite brilliant performances.
Nicky Shorey grabbed a scrappy consolation late on, but the game was won. Crucially, we had won by the two goal margin that took us back to the top of the table. And it could have been more: Theo Walcott and Emmanuel Eboue both missed good chances, and that’s without counting Adebayor’s strike against the post and his disallowed goal.
As my brief skimming over of the goals will illustrate, Adebayor and Hleb were both instrumental. Flamini was also excellent in a screening role in front of the back four, whilst Cesc was his usual remarkable self. If Eboue and Rosicky could provide a little more end product from the flanks, we’d be an even more terrifying attacking prospect.
The only conceivable negative from the game was that Cesc picked up the fifth yellow card that will earn him a suspension, though one wonders if perhaps he knew that the game he’d miss would be the home tie with Wigan – hardly the greatest loss.
Of course, having said that, I fully expect us to now lose to Wigan. When we do, you can blame me.
Last night was great to watch. Adebayor’s confidence was back and it gave our entire attacking game a new edge. And with Hleb and Fabregas in this kind of form, one wonders what it’ll take to stop us.
Hurry up and get the International break over with. I want to be watching Arsenal again.
