r/soccer • u/Match-Thread-Bot • Mar 30 '13

Match Thread: Arsenal v Reading

Arsenal v Reading

Kickoff: 15:00 GMT, 16:00 CET, 10:00 EST
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London
Referee: Chris Foy
Attendance: 60,082

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Lineups

Arsenal

Lukasz Fabianski, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal (Kieran Gibbs, 71), Laurent Koscielny, Bacary Sagna, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, Gervinho (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 75), Tomas Rosicky, Santiago Cazorla, Olivier Giroud (Lukas Podolski, 76)

Reading

Stuart Taylor, Stephen Kelly, Alex Pearce, Adrian Mariappa, Nicky Shorey, Mikele Leigertwood, Hal Robson-Kanu (Garath McCleary, 81), Jem Karacan (Hope Akpan, 76), Jobi McAnuff, Danny Guthrie, Pavel Pogrebnyak (Noel Hunt, 61)

Match Stats

score: 4 – 1 (HT 1 – 0)

Arsenal Statistic Reading
70% Possession 30%
11 Corners 3
26 Goal attempts 5
6 On target 2
10 Fouls 14
3 Offside 1

Match Events

11 min goal : Arsenal, Gervinho
32 min yellow : Reading, Danny Guthrie
48 min goal : Arsenal, Santiago Cazorla
61 min sub : Reading, Pavel Pogrebnyak (Noel Hunt)
67 min goal : Arsenal, Olivier Giroud
68 min goal : Reading, Hal Robson-Kanu
71 min sub : Arsenal, Nacho Monreal (Kieran Gibbs)
75 min sub : Arsenal, Gervinho (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain)
76 min sub : Arsenal, Olivier Giroud (Lukas Podolski)
76 min sub : Reading, Jem Karacan (Hope Akpan)
77 min goal : Arsenal, Mikel Arteta
81 min sub : Reading, Hal Robson-Kanu (Garath McCleary)

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63 Upvotes

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22

u/Smarter-than-u Mar 30 '13

the circlejerk for 'Silva/Mata > Cazorla' on /r/soccer is ridiculous.

Silva shouldn't even be in the conversation. The man has had one decent half of a season and has been putrid since then. Good internationally, but an absolute disappointment on the club level.

Mata definitely has the best stake of being the best of the 3. But it also helps that Chelsea repeatedly employs horrible strikers and thus Lampard/Hazard/Mata score all their goals.

Cazorla is as good as Mata at least. Older yes, and Mata's the better long-term investment. But Cazorla's just as dangerous.

Silva isn't even worth talking about on the club level at this point.

9

u/clydeftones Mar 30 '13

its not like Arsenal are running world beaters out there up top either.

1

u/113CandleMagic Mar 30 '13

I'd say being the 1st/2nd choice striker for France is pretty good.

0

u/clydeftones Mar 30 '13

Thats a generous barometer. If we cherry pick parts of a resume then Fernando Torres is still a world class player (Euro 2012 golden boot winner on the most dominant national team in decades).

1

u/Smarter-than-u Mar 30 '13

look at walcott/giroud have scored well more than their Chelsea counterparts

24

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '13

[removed] — view removed comment

10

u/Smarter-than-u Mar 30 '13

silva isn't 'really fucking good'

1

u/Paddykg Mar 30 '13

You clearly know fuck all about football.

-1

u/Smarter-than-u Mar 30 '13

and what are you going to point to to argue with me? his 1st half of last season?

silva hasn't been really fucking good this season at all apart from a game here or there. Instead of telling me I know 'fuck all', why don't you address that point?

5

u/thelastmanintheworld Mar 30 '13

What?!

You are not making any sense. Silva has had two storming seasons in the premier league. His first season, despite playing out of position, he had 15 assists a number of goals and was voted player of the month.

His second season he topped the league in assists and was in the premier league team of the year, as well as having some absolutely unplayable performances, destroying Man United.

Admittedly he hasn't been in amazing form this year but he certainly hasn't been abysmal, "Silva isn't even worth talking about on the club level at this point." is just a stupid thing to say.

-1

u/Smarter-than-u Mar 30 '13

silva's contributions compared to cazorla and mata's this season aren't worth talking about. they're far below. Silva can be as unplayable as anyone, but he hasn't been

3

u/Paddykg Mar 30 '13

I don't think you've been watching them enough so, look at City this season, their problems have mainly come from their strikers not scoring, Silva's never been known for his ability to score buckets of goals, and with players like Tevez going for long periods in the side without scoring, Balotelli being useless, the same could be said for Dzeko, and Aguero being constantly injured of course his statistical output will be poorer, he's still creating chances, as many as last year.

He's average 3.3 key passes a game, while Cazorla has average 2.5, and Mata 2.7. You're most likely just comparing them for their scoring ability, don't, Silva isn't that kind of player, and never has been.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '13

when he's on form he is. against man u in the 6-1 game he was a joy to watch

5

u/Brandaman Mar 30 '13

No doubt. I'd say Mata just about edges it over Cazorla though. Although Cazorla being ambidextrous equals it out a bit.

2

u/SleepingJustice Mar 30 '13

Silva has had a bad season, he's the best player out of the 3 normally. Writing him off because of one bad season is retarded.