The Royals suffered a 2-5 defeat against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 at Madejski Stadium on Monday, and the 51-year-old tactician has open heartedly admitted that Arsene Wenger’s men played brilliantly throughout the opening 45 minutes.
Reading boss, Brian McDermott, has held his side’s poor opening half performance responsible for the 2-5 defeat at the hands of Arsenal at Madejski Stadium on Monday, December 17.
The Gunners were leading the game 0-3 at the half-time break, thanks to a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lukas-Podolski-c22896 strike coupled with a Cazorla brace. After the break, the Spanish midfielder completed his hat-trick in the 60th minute to extend his side’s lead further.
However, the home side never gave up, and managed to net twice in the space of 11 minutes. Adam le Fondre added his name to the score-sheet in the 66th minute, while Jimmy Kebe hit the back of the net only five minutes later to reduce the deficit
to two goals.
Nonetheless, Theo Walcott’s strike in the 80th minute put the match to bed, as the visiting side cruised to a deserving 2-5 victory at the end.
“In the first half they played very well and we didn't get close to them. We changed shape in the second half and got better, got two goals but the fifth killed the game. We could have got tighter in the first half. Their three midfield players were excellent,
but the second half response was good from our point of view”, McDermott was quoted as saying to the media in the post-match press conference.
The former Slough Town boss went on to insist that the defeat against Arsenal will not shape up his side’s season.
“That game won't shape our season. We've got a lot of home games to come which will be defining for us”, McDermott added.
Reading are now currently sitting at the bottom of the Premier League, six points adrift of the safety zone, and it seems like they would be relegated to Npower Championship come the end of the season.
However, the 51-year-old trainer has insisted that they are determined to prolong their stay in the highest echelons of English football.
“We're doing everything in our power to make sure we're in this league next season”, McDermott concluded.
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