Wednesday, 31st October, 2012
Reading manager Brian McDermott has admitted he is "gutted" to have gone out of the League Cup to Arsenal, losing an extraordinary match at home 7-5 after extra time.
The Royals had led 4-0 in the first half at one point, but Theo Walcott handed Arsenal what proved to be a vital lifeline just before the break, making it 4-1.
For McDermott, the first half and Walcott’s goal was the turning point, although at that point no one could have guessed what would later unfold, with goals galore to come and an eventual extra time win for Arsenal.
Reading though, for McDermott, should have been out of sight in the first half and leading 5-0 or 6-0 – a scoreline that surely would have buried any hopes Arsenal had of getting back into the match.
"We are all gutted, it’s a game we should have won comfortably", McDermott told Reading’s official site.
"We’re 4-0 up in a game that we were dominating completely, we were playing some extraordinary football, we should be talking about us winning 5-0 or 6-0, but they scored right before half time – and that was the turning point in that game.
relatedNewsStory"Losing 7-5, I can’t really get my head around that."
The Reading boss also said that he felt concerned at half time, even though his side came in with a very comfortable 4-1 lead over the Gunners.
"I went in at half time really unhappy because I felt that we had given them an opportunity and that proved to be the case. We have to clear our lines and be better in that situation.
"The goal gave them a lift, we still had a penalty shout at 4-1 but if you give good players a lift they’ll take it. You saw some really good players tonight taking an opportunity they shouldn’t have even had. You can’t give people opportunities the way we did tonight."
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