Last night was all about the Capital One Cup, and Arsenal’s unbelievable comeback at the Madejski Stadium against Reading.
And what a night it was. The game was the epitome of what makes football so special; it doesn’t matter what club you support, last night was a feast for any football lover. A 12-goal thriller, played out till extra time, packed with drama, end-to-end football
and defensive lapses.
But perhaps it is the word ‘defensive lapse’ that truly sums it up. The game featured attacking football at its finest, but also highlighted woeful defensive mistakes and errors, errors for which both teams should be ashamed of.
But let’s take a look at how the frenzy commenced, and how it came to an such an unbelievable end.
Arsenal would have gone into the game full of confidence. With the likes of Theo Walcott, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Andrei-Arshavin-c5771 in the starting line-up, Arsenal looked in prime position to
end the night as the victors.
However, fate had other plans. In the first half, everything that could’ve gone wrong for the Gunners did go wrong. They conceded an early goal where Laurent Koscielny failed to track the run of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jason-Roberts-c17973, who slotted home the first of many goals of
the night.
The Frenchman’s night took a turn for the worse when he shortly scored a goal, only in the wrong net. Having gone 2-0 up, Reading added 2 more before the half hour whistle; goals that could’ve been easily prevented had the Arsenal goalkeeper not made an
awful mess of the first and if Arsenal hadn’t switched off for the second.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Martinez-c24468, the highly rated young Argentinian goalkeeper, made a fool out of himself as he attempted to keep Mikele Leigertwood’s shot out. Having seen the replay, you had to feel for the poor chap, who almost came close to outclassing former Arsenal goalkeepers.
I’m hinting at http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Manuel-Almunia-c23386 in case you were wondering.
Arsenal looked down and out, and were absolutely shell shocked. What else can you expect from the league’s ‘most entertaining team’? This was a horror show for Gooners worldwide, and things looked grim.
How does a team like Arsenal let Reading (who only have a win in the Capital One Cup to their name so far), score 4 goals against them, that too in only 45 minutes?
There were questions to be asked, and fingers to be pointed, and you could tell Arsene Wenger had a lot to say to his players during the break.
Arsenal did however have a glimmer of hope, which came from Theo Walcott’s cheeky chip before half time. Going into the second half, Arsenal had a life line. A slim, feeble life line.
Wenger made two changes in the 60th minute, bringing on Olivier Giroud and Thomas Eisfeld. Both players turned out to be inspired changes, as Giroud scored http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429’s second goal, and Eisfeld helped keep possession in the middle of the park.
Koscielny made amends for his mistake(s) by scoring the third, and Theo Walcott added the fourth with only seconds remaining on the clock. The away stand erupted with joyful euphoria. The Reading fans were shocked and speechless. Everyone sensed the comeback.
The atmosphere was surreal.
It was 4-4, with extra time scheduled to be played. Who would’ve thought Arsenal were capable of a feat such as this?
Extra time started, and it was all there to play for. Marouane Chamakh, the forgotten man, gave the visitors the lead for the first time in the first half of extra time before Arsenal conceded another in the second.
Nerves were on an all time high, but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Theo-Walcott-c34873 stepped up to the occasion and scored the eleventh of the night, and Chamakh shortly followed with the twelfth, lobbing the ball over Adam Federici in perfect fashion.
The comeback was complete. The game was over. Many could not believe what they had just witnessed. Arsenal were through to the quarter finals, and Reading looked shell shocked and absolutely battered.
Defensive mistakes or not, this had to be the best football game I’ve ever seen. It’s moments like these that make you appreciate the beauty, passion and the drama of the sport.
It was a mad night at the Madejski Stadium. The scoreboards read 5-7. The Arsenal faithful were ecstatic. Even some of the Reading fans could not help but smile at what they had just witnessed. Football is truly unbelievable at times.
And if you missed the game, or didn’t even bother to check out the highlights, you missed out on something spectacular indeed.
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