Reading Under-21s managed to take a strong Arsenal Under-21s side to extra time in the Premier League Cup, losing to a goal in extra time from the Gunners.
Noel Hunt’s side, which featured a number of players with recent exposure to the First Team, were bright throughout the cup tie and almost held on for a penalty shootout.
The Royals started the game well, with midfield duo Jay Senga and Michael Craig containing a lot of Arsenal’s threat through the middle of the pitch and forcing them out wide.
And when the Gunners did make inroads toward the Reading goal, the excellent Coniah Boyce-Clarke was there between the sticks to make saves and deny them an early lead.
Eventually, the Royals defence was breached in the first half after a moment of quality from the hosts. Midfielder Ben Cottrell moved the ball onto his left foot and played a diagonal pass from just inside his own half into the path of Catalin Cirjan, who brought it down and finished smartly past Boyce-Clarke.
HALF-TIME: ARSENAL U21 1-0 READING U21
The Royals didn’t let heads drop despite going in 1-0 down at the break. Hunt’s side kept pushing and probing, looking for opportunities to play through the hosts and create chances.
And when Craig found one of the two trialists on the left of the Arsenal penalty area, few could have predicted what he would do with the ball – arrowing a shot from 25 yards into the top corner of Hubert Graczyk’s goal to level things up at Meadow Park in the 52nd minute.
Just five minutes later, Graczyk was called into action again. Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan had a lot to do when Nelson Abbey set him away with a lofted clearance, but the striker showed his technical and physical ability to control the ball and shrug off two defenders on his way to goal.
Ehibhatiomhan almost rounded the goalkeeper for a simple finish, but the Arsenal stopper did well to stay on his feet and smother the striker’s effort.
The North London side almost scored a winner in the dying minutes of the game when midfielder Matt Smith glided into the Royals box and played in Cottrell to score – but right-back Sam Paul was round on the cover to make an excellent block and ensure extra time.
Extra time saw Arsenal convert the chance that won the tie, when substitute Mauro Bandeira latched onto a pass from Charles Sagoe Jr to finish past Boyce-Clarke five minutes into extra time.
In the dying seconds of the game, Boyce-Clarke came up for a corner as Reading loaded the Arsenal box with bodies. But hopes of taking the game to penalties were extinguished when the ball was headed clear, and the referee blew his whistle for the last time.
It was valiant effort from Hunt’s side, who competed well with the Premier League 2 outfit. But it’s the Gunners who will be advancing to the quarter-finals.
FULL-TIME (AET): ARSENAL U21 2-1 READING U21
Arsenal U21: Graczyk, Walters, Sousa, Kacurri (Nichols 65), Awe, Smith, Cottrell (Bandeira 90), Ibrahim (Nwaneri 46), Sagoe Jr, Cirjan, Ideho
Subs: Jeffcott, Cooper
Goals: Cirjan 31, Bandeira 95
Reading U21: Boyce-Clarke, Paul, Trialist, Senga, Trialist, Abbey, Akande, Craig (Borgnis 105), Ehibhatiomhan, Leavy (Osorio 90), Camara (Scott 71)
Subs: Maunder, Collins
Goals: Trialist 52
Yellow: Paul 69