All in all a great game that was a credit to the championship. Obviously after dominating the first half and going 2-0 up I was disappointed with the end result. Even though I'd have happily accepted a point before the game. Funny old game ain't it? But great comeback from you guys and, in the end, you were unlucky not to nick it. As for the penalty, Ady Williams said it was a foul, albeit a theatrical tumble, and Guthrie said he conceded it, so it was bang on. Sounds like you had a good case for a second not long after as well. Good luck for the rest of the season, except for the return leg of course.
Nope BB HP behaved well for me today although my dad following the rams fortunes suffered dropouts he is near Ullapool.
Just got back...phew!!! A poor first half in which we looked a bit disjointed, although Reading did their best to put us off our game. I thought there was a little too much theatrics from the Reading players, that is when they weren't committing niggly fouls. But they definitely cut off the supply to Anya in the first half, so much so I thought maybe Zola would have switch him over. Definitely better in the second half, and if we had payed like that in the first I genuinely think we could have taken all three points. I thought Fabbrini went down a little theatrically for the pen, but then so did the Reading payer for the free kick before their second goal. Also, there was a stonewall pen just after our pen which wasn't given. So all's fair as far as I'm concerned. FF still doesn't look on top of his game and I'm wondering if Fabbrini has done enough to get a start. I also liked the way Fabbrini and Acuna linked up when the latter came on. All in all a great afternoon. Loved the atmosphere, loved the fed up faces on the Reading fans and loved the way we came back (we also had a shot tipped over (FF?)) and Deaney had one cleared off the line. So, a point gained or two dropped? not so obvious as it may first appear. COYH
The penalty awarded has been confirmed by the Reading manager and player. He admits he missed the ball and took the player out. GFZ thought that we should have had the second one as well.
Saw it live and I've seen it on Sky. Defo some theatrics, but if Reading have put their hands up then fair enough. The second was was absolutely nailed on, the ref bottled it. In fact I thought the ref was pretty poor to be honest.
He was completely inconsistent and, at times, appeared to be making it up. So no change there then!!!
Happy with a point after being 2-0 down at half time. Interesting to hear Zola say; "there are a lot of new players in the squad and lots of them are foreign and maybe they thought that the game builds slowly like in some other leagues, but they need to learn to start games with a high intensity or they will be punished." WTF this is their third game, I don't want to hear ****e like this, they should know the deal from the start! Don't want to hear this again. Why was Ekstrand subbed at HT? Does Faraoni get booked every game? Sounds like it was a good game. 'Top of the table' NF next then...let's hope McGugan shows them a thing or two...
Good comeback from the Golden Boys, but they'll find it easier if they turn up for the start of the match!
A comment from a Reading fan in their local newspaper. "As for some of the Watford fans; their threatening behaviour was disgraceful." What is this all about? We don't need it. Other clubs can do it far better than us.
Didn't see anything out of the ordinary Frenchie, they're a sensitive lot in Berkshire. I think they were gutted at the end and may be sour grapes. According to the WO both teams had fans ejected.
Blimey - neither club are known for their hard nosed element (hence the Reading fans complaining?)! TBF They have been very gracious generally about the game and accepted the penalty decision. I half expected a backlash when I heard there might have been a dive involved but it seems more of a case of slightly over egging the foul. Which of course 99.9% of players do. Mind you they just seem happy to see an exciting game between us 2 rather than the usual dour 0-0/1-1.
Evening all, just got back - was planning to meet up with some gooners in North London on the way home, but for some reason they did not fancy a few beers!
Already heard Wenger moaning. Welcome back Premier league. I generally quite like Arsenal and feel a bit for their fans.
Maybe this person should tell Reading fans to not use ****ing and **** in every one of their chants. Hardly sweetness and light themselves.
It is a bot odd though. I don't know what happened of course but one does wonder if sometimes the stewards are a bit over zealous in kicking people out. I've seen some shockers over the years and, on the other hand, people getting away with murder. Maybe they're all trainee premier league referees......
