Arsenal battle past Reading to advance to another FA Cup Final

Arsenal were made to work for it, but eventually they prevailed in extra time against lower league opposition in Reading to advance to their second straight FA Cup Final.

The Gunners, who were made to sweat at exactly the same stage by another Championship side in Wigan Athletic last season, were not at their fluent best, but in the end their superior quality made the difference as they hung on to record a 2-1 win at Wembley.
Arsenal came into this game making four changes to the side that beat Burnley last week with Wojciech Szczesny getting a start in goal, Kieran Gibbs returning to left back and Danny Welbeck leading the line. Mathieu Debuchy also earned his first start after missing the last 4 months due to injury with young Hector Bellerin making way.
Arsenal were clearly the better side in the first half but had to wait till the 39th minute to take the lead with Alexis Sanchez squeezing his effort through the legs of Adam Federici in the Reading goal after being found brilliantly in the box by German star Mesut Ozil.
Arsenal had more chances in the first period with skipper Per Mertesacker denied another Wembley goal by Federici. Defensively the Gunners had been quite solid in the opening period and weren't really tested.
Reading came out with renewed purpose in the second half and drew level with what was virtually their first real effort on goal through Gareth McCleary. Pavel Pogrebnyak did well to get to the left touchline and dink over a cross, and McCleary's shot took a deflection off Gibbs and was then palmed into his own goal by Szczesny, who really should have done better.
Arsenal were under the cosh for a brief spell in that second half and also lost Mertesacker to an injury, however, the introduction of Olivier Giroud for the last 20 minutes changed the complexion of their attacking play.
The Gunners sprung to life late in the game with substitute Gabriel brilliantly denied by Federici at his front post, and the Brazilian then missing a free header from another Arsenal set piece. At the back, an error from Gabriel saw Reading create a 2-on-1 situation against Laurent Koscielny, but Arsenal survived without Szczesny having to make a save.
Back up the other end, Ramsey had a chance to rewrite his name in Arsenal folklore, but somehow contrived to hit the post with his left foot after his bulldozing run saw him get a kind deflection after Federici saved his initial effort.
The game made its way to extra time and Federici was the hero again as he somehow kept out a long range effort from Ramsey, who seemed to have a goal in him every time he ventured forward.
The semi-final though was finally decided by an error from the otherwise excellent Federici, who let a tame shot from Alexis Sanchez squirm through his hands and over the goal-line as Arsenal took the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Arsenal had to absorb some late pressure in the second period, but had ample opportunities of their own to put the game to bed with Olivier Giroud hitting the woodwork, while Ozil also had an effort skew off target.
It's a return to Wembley for the Gunners in a month to face the winner of tomorrow's semi-final between Aston Villa and Liverpool, and it's a trip one can be certain Arsenal fans will look forward to as they continue their defence of the FA Cup.

Source: footballcampus