Arsenal coast past Reading

Football is a strange old game. A month ago we would have considered this a simple three points to carry on in our relentless bid to win the Premiership title. Yesterday morning, I was hoping for a win just to make sure third place was more or less sealed…

And while we did play well enough to beat a poor reading side, I can’t help feeling that the whole match just proved one of our main weaknesses in the past few months - our conversion of chances. We had 68% possession, 20 shots and 12 corners. How many goals did we score? 2. That is simply not good enough for a top four team, and I’m not sure how we can really improve this ratio. Is it just the fact that some teams have better luck? Or is it that we have appalling finsihers up front? I think that certainly van Persie should have scored a couple, but he did hit the bar and the post with one shot, and we had a ball cleared off the line, while Walcott also hit the bar in the match. It is those tiny differences that have caught us out this season, yesterday it was only the difference between 2-0 and 6-0, but at places like Birmingham, Old Trafford and Anfield, it has proved the difference between taking all three points or not, and also the difference between a successful side and a side whose season has finished in April.

Nevertheless, there were other positive things to take out of yesterday’s game. Theo Walcott proved that he can make a difference as a starter, skipping past Reading players and causing them problems. Adebayor showed the doubters once again that he can be a top striker. And Alex Song definitely illustrated what a changed player he has become this season, even in his less favoured position of centre back.

Having pressured for the first half, we found ourselves 2-0 up with goals from Adebnayor and a deflected Gilberto effort at half time, and we never looked like giving up the lead from there. The second half continued in the same fashion throughout the second half as well, with van Persie’s superb free kick that came off the bar and then the post being the closest Arsenal came to a third goal, although as I mentioned earlier, Theo Walcott was played through only for his left foot shot to hit the top of the bar, and when Fabregas was put one-on-one with the goalkeeper for the second time in the match, he too couldn’t convert, with Duberry blocking his shot on the line and leaving Arsenal settle for the 2-0 result.

Alexander Hleb could well be in trouble after he petulantly slapped Graham Murty in the face in an off-the-ball incident, and if he is banned for three games, it is all that he deserves for the blatant stupidty that he showed in doing that. It’s a shame that such a good player feels the need to do that sort of thing with the game won, and he will be punsihed deservedly for it.