Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil excel in Arsenal's dispatch of Reading for FA Cup final spot
Some football fans may feel that the FA Cup semi finals should not be played at Wembley and that by doing so, part of the magic of the competition is lost. However, emerging from Wembley Park on Saturday afternoon with the national stadium bathed in sunshine was enough to fill even the most critical of supporters with excitement. Championship outfit Reading faced the Premier League's in-form side Arsenal in the evening kick, with the winner coming up against one of Aston Villa or Liverpool in a bid to lift the FA Cup next month.
The Royals started brightly, but it was Arsenal who had the first decent opportunity of the match, with Per Mertesacker forcing Adam Federici into action. The Gunners defender headed Alexis Sanchez's corner to the near post, by the Australian goalkeeper got down quickly to turn Mertesacker's effort away from goal. At the other end, John Obita tested Wojciech Szczesny with a low drive from 20 yards, but the Polish shotstopper was able to deny the Reading left-back in the opening exchanges.
Mesut Özil then sent a free kick just wide of Federici's post as Arsenal looked to exert their dominance early on. However, the Gunners' efforts amounted to little as a determined Reading side held firm to deny their top tier counterparts in the opening 20 minutes. The performance from the north London side was certainly an improvement on when these two teams last met in cup competition, with Arsenal 3-0 down by the 20-minute mark in their Capital One Cup encounter back in 2012.
Reading continued to frustrate Arsenal, but with 5 minutes for the first half remaining, the deadlock was broken as Alexis Sánchez twisted and turned in the Royals box before slotting past Federici. After today, the Chilean has now directly contributed to 4 of Arsenal's last 5 goals in all competitions and now looks back to his best after a dip in his performances following his stunning start to life in England. After the interval, Reading pressed with intent for an equaliser and were duly rewarded for their efforts.
Pavel Pogrebnyak did well to get to the byline and lofted a cross to the back post. The unmarked Garath McCleary sent his effort towards goal and while Szczesny managed to get a hand to the Reading midfielder's shot, he was unable to prevent the Royals from drawing level. Mertesacker was forced off through injury after an hour and it was his replacement Gabriel who came closest to restoring Arsenal's advantage midway through the second half. The Brazilian's near post header from an Özil corner forced Federici into a fine acrobatic save to keep the score level.
Gabriel was then presented with another golden opportunity to put his side back in front having been picked out by Özil from a free kick on the right. Poor marking from the Reading defence allowed the January arrival to ghost into the penalty area, but he could only direct his header over the bar. As the game neared its conclusion, on-loan midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah let fly from distance, forcing Szczesny into a smart stop, while at the other end; Aaron Ramsey struck the woodwork after rounding Federici as the two teams sought to avoid the rigours of a further 30 minutes of action.
With nothing to separate either side, however, extra time followed, with Santi Cazorla the first to try and break the deadlock early after the restart. The Spaniard picked up the ball 25 yards from goal, but rifled over the Reading crossbar. Ramsey then forced Federici into action with a low drive from distance. The Royals goalkeeper excellently turned the Welshman's goalbound effort over for a corner, which was subsequently cleared by the Championship outfit. However, moments later Federici allowed Alexis' shot to trickle through his legs and into the back of the net as Arsenal came into half time at extra time with a one goal advantage.
With 10 minutes of the semi final remaining, substitute Olivier Giroud came close to guaranteeing a place in the final, but his shot struck the wrong side of the post and out for a Reading goal kick. It needn't have mattered though as Arsenal held on to secure a 2-1 win and set up a meeting with either Villa or Liverpool at the end of May.
Reading put in a spirited performance against their Premier League opponents, but the quality of the north London side shone through in the end. The combination of Alexis and Özil proved to be the difference at Wembley. After initially failing to gel, the duo appear to have finally struck up the partnership Arsenal fans hoped they would see when Alexis signed from Barcelona over the summer. The Chile international had gone off the boil following the German's return from injury, but looks to have returned to his best form.
A WhoScored rating of 9.26 was enough to land Alexis his third successive man of the match award, with Özil (8.89) the second highest player in Arsenal's victory. The German was at his creative best over the 120 minutes of action, playing more key passes (9) than any other player in the semi final clash, with Alexis (3) closest to matching that return. A majority of Arsenal's attacks came down the left flank (40%) and it was no real shock to see Wenger demand his players focus their offensive efforts down this side of the pitch, given the blossoming partnership between Arsenal's two most expensive signings.
Without sufficient cover, this saw Chris Gunter struggle to contain Alexis and Özil, with the right-back dissapointing as a result. The Welshman's WhoScored rating (6.55) was the third worst of all starters in the encounter, with a total of 2 tackles and 2 interceptions not enough to halt the Arsenal offensive.
A host of other Arsenal players were key to their victory over Reading - Francis Coquelin in particular excelled with his 5 tackles and 9 interceptions contributing to his WhoScored rating of 8.24 - but it was the combination of Alexis and Özil on the left flank which played the vital role. 68% possession and 23 shots to Reading's 12 signified the Gunners' dominance and they were deserving winners on Saturday. Whether they face Villa or Liverpool in the final now, Arsenal will be confident of defending their FA Cup crown when they return to Wembley in the final domestic game of the campaign.