A solid performance from Arsenal, and they overcame Reading with relatively little fuss. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a good first goal and a lucky second, but the hosts had too much quality, and could have won by more, but for a series of good stops from Ali al-Habsi. Reading did OK, but the gulf in class was marked.
Thanks for reading! Goodnight.
Full-time: Arsenal 2-0 Reading
And that’s the whistle. Arsenal safely into the quarter-finals.
90 min +1 Elneny skies one miles too high from 25 yards.
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90 min Three minutes of stoppage time.
88 min Kermorgant’s free kick … and Martinez saves really well! He got down very quickly to his left. Excellent stop.
87 min Samuel is tripped right on the edge of the box by Gabriel. A goal here could make for an interesting final three minutes.
84 min Willock nearly gets on the end of a cross from the right, but Gravenberch does enough to cover the danger.
82 min Not much happening in attack for Reading.
79 min Liam Moore goes into the book for a crude lunge on Giroud.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Reading (Oxlade-Chamberlain 78)
Bad luck for Reading. Oxlade-Chamberlain hit one from the edge of the box, and it looped up off a Reading foot with al-Habsi beaten. Regardless, that is probably that.
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77 min Another great save from al-Habsi. Iwobi thrashes one from the edge of the box and the keeper turns it over the bar.
76 min Instead, Elneny chips it in, and Giroud wins the first header, but the whistle goes for a foul.
75 min McCleary is booked for fouling Oxlade-Chamberlain 30 yards from goal. Chance for a shot.
73 min That should have been two. Lovely flowing move from Arsenal down the right, and Elneny’s run allowed Oxlade-Chamberlain to receive it in space. Al-Habsi saved his first shot, but could only parry it to Iwobi, who completely fluffed the rebound.
72 min Chris Willock replaces Lucas Perez. It’s not quite been Lucas’s night.
71 min What a save from al-Habsi. The ball was whipped in from the left, and Giroud flicked a header goalwards, but al-Habsi plunged to keep it out! Then from the follow-up, Moore headed it off the line! Reading stay alive.
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70 min Gravenberch is really late on Perez, but escapes a booking. That should have been yellow.
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69 min Twenty minutes or so for Reading to find a goal. Despite some promising moments, they haven’t really tested Emiliano Martinez.
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68 min Danzell Gravenberch is on for Tennai Watson.
66 min A round of applause as Olivier Giroud replaces Reine-Adelaide.
65 min Reading force another corner, and it’s headed clear. On the follow-up, Kelly spanks it into orbit.
64 min McCleary goes clear on the right, and his cross is headed behind by Jenkinson. Reading take it short, but Obita’s cross is missed by everyone.
62 min Kermorgant gets up well from Obita’s cross, but Martinez catches well.
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61 min William Hargreaves makes a salient point: “Is that possession stat right, Tim? Have Reading had 71% of the ball?”
No. Nowehere near! I think there’s a glitch in the matrix. I imagine it’s more like 60-40 Arsenal.
60 min And Oxlade-Chamberlain dribbles it into the wall. That was hilariously bad.
59 min Evans escapes a booking after dragging back Elneny following al-Habsi’s bum clearance. Arsenal free kick, 40 yards from goal.
56 min Jaap’s changing things, and Yann Kermorgant replaces Callum Harriott.
52 min Already there’s plenty of space, which could give Reading a sniff: they’ve got pace up front. But here comes Lucas, and he feeds Maitlin-Niles, whose cross is dross.
50 min Perez goes beyond the defence in the inside-left channel, but the angle is tight, and his shot is blocked. Again, Arsenal can’t make the corner count.
49 min Chamberlain goes through again with Reading committed in attack, but Blackett does very well to get back and block. Corner to Arsenal, but it’s cleared.
48 min Arsène Wenger and Bouldy on the Arsenal bench look reasonably happy. That was pretty good from the hosts in the first half, and Iwobi in particular looked good.
46 min We’re back. No changes for either side.
Liverpool lead Tottenham at the break. Paul Doyle has more:
Good fun, and Arsenal lead, deservedly, thanks to Oxlade-Chamberlain’s fine goal. Reading have had their moments, but the home side are well on top. See you in 15.
Half-time: Arsenal 1-0 Reading
There’s the whistle.
45 min +2 Actually, it’s not the last chance before half-time, because there’s two minutes of stoppage time. Reading force a corner, and there’s a moment of panic in the Gunners’ defence before it’s hacked clear.
45 min Corner to Arsenal, and the last chance before half-time. Cleared to Maitland-Niles on the edge of the box, who smacks it miles over the bar.
43 min Oh, close! Harriott picked it up in space on the edge of the box, shot for goal, and it flicked off Gabriel and this much over the bar, with Martinez committed. Corner for Reading, but nothing comes of it.
Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
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40 min Reading just finding life difficult at the moment. Arsenal well on top.
37 min Here’s Ric Arthur: “Where’s Debuchy? Do you know anything on this score? As far as I know he is not on loan, and not injured. He’s had a real comedown from being preferred to Sagna in Arsenal and France, to not making it in preference to Jenkinson. If Wenger was not going to play him at all, why did he not loan him out in August, subject to recall if needed? At least then he’d be match-fit.”
Yeah, it’s strange, isn’t it? I think he’s fit to play – Wenger just preferred Jenkinson tonight. Can anyone enlighten us?
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36 min Arsenal, incidentally, are unbeaten since the opening game of the season.
34 min Reading gave it away, Oxlade-Chamberlain received the ball in space on the right, ran at two defenders to work a yard of space, and finished really accurately into the far corner. An excellent finish, and a deserved lead for Arsenal.
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GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Reading (Oxlade-Chamberlain 33)
It had been coming!
33 min It’s really open, this game, and Maitland-Niles does well to work some space on the edge of the box, but his shot is over the bar.
31 min Chance for Samuel at the other end! Evans did well on the right touchline, and got a cross away, but Samuel, who was unmarked, thrashed it over the bar! Decent opportunity for the visitors.
29 min Elneny works al-Habsi at the near post, but the goalie got everything behind it.
28 min Oxlade-Chamberlain’s ball in isn’t cleared properly, but Iwobi’s shot from 18 yards is well wide. Arsenal pumping it up.
26 min Oxlade-Chamberlain shoots, and it’s well over the bar.
25 min Oh, Reading had a three on two, but McCleary held on to it too long, and Gibbs, I think it was, got back to make the tackle.
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23 min Elneny is down and the trainer is on. Van den Berg went in strongly and seemed to catch Elneny on the foot.
21 min That was a great effort from Maitland-Niles. He just caressed it. So unlucky. Now Lucas Perez is clean through … but he tried to pass to Reine-Adelaide instead of shoot, and the chance is gone.
18 min Ooh, just wide from Maitland-Niles! Oxlade-Chamberlain skinned Obita, and his cross was cleared only as far as Maitland-Niles on the edge of the box, who placed a side-footer just wide of the post! Al-Habsi was beaten, but it was inches the wrong side.
15 min Iwobi, who’s started very brightly, tries to find Lucas in the box, but the Spaniard can’t quite control it, and Reading clear.
13 min Chance for Reading on the break, but McCleary took too long, and Arsenal got back to clear.
12 min Reading just enjoying a bit more of the ball. Here’s Charles Antaki: “As Halloween approaches, it’s not hard to imagine the spirit of Francis Jeffers coming back to inhabit the physical form of Lucas Pérez. It has a head start in the general facial resemblance (as much as I remember it) but the clincher is the similarity in goal-getting.”
Incidentally, Franny is now back at Everton as a specialist attacking coach. Shame it never worked out for him after Arsenal – I thought he was a lovely striker at Goodison. His career was basically done by the age of about 21, though.
9 min Arsenal have pushed up high. But Harriott pinches it back, and then shows some nice skill to draw the foul from Gabriel. It’s wasted by the visitors, though.
7 min Now Oxlade-Chamberlain flashes one across goal! Iwobi fed him in the inside-right channel, and he wanted the return, but Oxlade-Chamberlain shot, rather greedily, probably, and it went the wrong side of the post. Arsenal beginning to purr, though.
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5 min Great chance for Jenkinson, but he shot straight at Al-Habsi! Lovely move on the right, and a super flick from Reine-Adelaide found Jenkinson chugging up from right-back, but he couldn’t find the finish! Slick move nonetheless.
2 min Reading starting in reasonably spry fashion, and Martinez has to be alert to come off limits and head clear after Samuel, I think it was, looked to go through.
1 min We’re off! Graham Scott is our ref, and Arsenal are all in red and white. Reading are in garish yellow.
Anyway! We’re nearly off. Bryan Tisinger asks: “Do Arsenal have 15 players in their starting formation, or just an inordinate amount of hyphenated names, plus a guy who has two names?”
Nick Hornby, Gooner and Berkshireman all rolled into one, would appreciate tonight’s game, I’m sure – providing the second-tier team from up the M4 don’t win. Remember the famous passage from Fever Pitch, when Hornby attended an Arsenal-Reading League Cup game at Elm Park in about 1972? Sitting next to some hapless suburban family wearing rosettes and knitted scarves, listening to their “loathsome burr”, weaving some imaginary tale about life in gritty inner-city London – before being outed as middle-class twerp from Maidenhead, just up the road.
To quote Hornby:
Then the father finished me off. “You shouldn’t be supporting Arsenal this afternoon,” he said. “You should be supporting your local team.” It was the most humiliating moment of my teenage years.
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If you prefer to follow the Gooner’s north London rivals, Paul Doyle has Liverpool-Tottenham here:
A raft of changes, as expected, for Arsenal: Elneny and Iwobi keep their places but everyone else is new, including Lucas Perez, who came off the bench against Boro at the weekend. Reading make changes, too, to the side that beat Rotherham on Saturday, and Callum Harriott plays, while Yann Kermorgant drops to the bench. Olivier Giroud starts as a sub for Arsenal.
Tonight's teams
Arsenal: Martinez, Jenkinson, Holding, Gabriel, Gibbs, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Reine-Adelaide, Iwobi, Lucas Perez. Subs: Giroud, Bielik, Zelalem, Macey, Sheaf, Willock, Bola.
Reading: Al Habsi, Watson, Liam Moore, Blackett, Obita, McCleary, van den Berg, Evans, Kelly, Samuel, Harriott. Subs: Swift, Wieser, Kermorgant, Meite, Quinn, Gravenberch, Stuart Moore.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
Arsenal haven’t won the League Cup since 1993, which, for a club of its stature, is pretty surprising. Reading haven’t won the League Cup at all, which, for a club of its stature, is not all that surprising. But a win today and they’re in the quarter-finals, and suddenly a place at Wembley doesn’t look all that far away. Arsenal are expected to name only a moderately strong side, which gives Reading, currently eighth in the Championship, some hope. Kick off is in about 35 minutes.
Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read about two old pals getting together:
If the reunion sounds an unlikely one from their respective time at Grenoble, it is remarkable that Kermorgant has been able to play professionally at all. At the age of 14, while on the books of the Rennes academy after leaving family and home comforts behind in Brittany, the Frenchman was diagnosed with leukaemia and told by doctors that his career was finished before it had started. Kermorgant underwent two years of treatment and did not kick a ball for the next four.
“I was told I was not supposed to play football again, that I would struggle to run and even to walk,” Kermorgant says. “But I got better and better and I started to play football for fun with my friends. I was still a student and I was not thinking about playing properly again. After I started to feel better but I was not in the right place to do so. I needed to move somewhere outside the cocoon of my family and friends and everything. I gave myself a year to see if I could succeed and if not, I would carry on with my studies.”
Kermorgant never looked back. After juggling his degree in sports science and sports management at the University of Rennes with playing for his hometown club Vannes, he joined the fourth-tier club Châtellerault. His form there – hitting double figures over the course of the season – earned him a professional contract with Grenoble, the Ligue 2 club, at the age of 24. At the same time, a young Giroud was maturing after coming through the club’s academy.
“We played together a long time ago now,” recalls Kermorgant. “I played a few games with him over one season but not many because he came from the academy, he was young and after he went on loan.”
