Arsenal and Wembley drama come as standard. It is a ludicrously heady mix, as was demonstrated last season. This time, in the semi-final of their FA Cup defence, they were once again heavily fancied to make light-ish work of unfancied opponents. Reading sit 19th in the Championship. They are not mathematically insulated against relegation.
But Arsenal do not do things this way at the national stadium. After the suffocating tension of last season’s semi-final penalty shootout win over Wigan Athletic and the extra-time victory over Hull City in the final, this was another tie to put years on their supporters.
When Wojciech Szczesny erred to allow Garath McCleary’s shot to get past him, Arsenal were catapulted on to their latest white-knuckle ride. Reading were gloriously unobliging, as they chased the first FA Cup final appearance in their 144-year history.
Arsenal were not at their best but they did enough to scrape home and it was somehow fitting that their extra-time winner was the result of a glaring error. Adam Federici will have nightmares about the moment when he allowed Alexis Sánchez’s effort to squirm through his legs and in. He lay face down on the lush green turf.
Nobody who attended Arsenal’s previous semi-final here against Championship opposition will ever forget it and the memories had provided a reference point which, in some respects, framed this tie. It was impossible to sugar-coat the simple truth that, as Arsenal trailed to Jordi Gómez’s 63rd-minute penalty for Wigan and laboured horribly, it felt as though we were witnessing the end of Arsène Wenger’s tenure. Arsenal, though, would stay alive after Per Mertesacker’s 82nd-minute equaliser.
The tumult had seemed like a world away from the swaggering Arsenal team that returned to Wembley, seeking passage into a record 19th FA Cup final and a shot at a record 12th triumph. Before the corresponding fixture last April, the club had not won in four matches. They arrived here as one of Europe’s form sides, on the back of eight straight wins; their best run since the nine straight of the Invincibles.
Reading had last tasted victory in the replay of their Cup quarter-final against Bradford City on 16 March. There have been some shocks in the competition this season – chiefly, Bradford’s win at Chelsea – but it had been nigh-on impossible to foresee another one here, and not only because of the lessons of history. Arsenal entered the tie having played 12 and won 12 against Reading. Wenger’s team had previously lost only one of 38 FA Cup games against lower-league opposition. Steve Clarke had accepted that Arsenal would dominate possession but he hoped his Reading team would not give an inch when it mattered, and that they would carry the physical fight. He got his wishes, and then some.
Reading pressed from the first whistle, refusing to allow Arsenal too much space and working hard to keep their shape. Jamie Mackie, preying on the shoulder of the last defender, threatened to get in behind them while McCleary looked dangerous. Reading meant business. Their players emerged as heroes.
Arsenal manipulated the ball with customary finesse, nobody more so than Mesut Özil – whose passing remains a joy to watch.
But they had to battle to make incisions and inject tempo. It was not easy for them. The opening goal was well-timed and it was no surprise to see Özil pulling the strings for it. Sánchez’s touch, jink inside Nathaniel Chalobah and nutmegged finish through Federici was of the highest order.
Reading’s equaliser was a poor moment for Szczesny, who already had bad memories of Wembley from the 2011 Carling Cup final, when his last-minute mix-up with Laurent Koscielny handed victory to Birmingham City. McCleary’s volley was well struck and it took a slight deflection off Kieran Gibbs but Szczesny was unable to adjust or get a strong hand to it. By the time he did, he had clawed it away from behind his line.
The TV cameras picked out David Ospina on the Arsenal bench and even Bob Wilson, the club’s one-time goalkeeper and coach, up in the stands. Ospina, the current No1, was not playing because of Wenger’s rigid policy of starting with the back-up in the FA Cup. A penny for his thoughts would have been worth the investment.
The equaliser was the prompt for a real cup tie to break out and the emotions to churn. Reading might have had a penalty when Hal Robson-Kanu’s cross struck Mathieu Debuchy’s hand while Arsenal might have nicked it in normal time through the substitute Gabriel or Aaron Ramsey.
