Arsenal 2 (Adebayor 30, Gilberto 39)
Reading 0

Reading lost 2-0 to Arsenal today, and although the Gunners deserved to win, we can take some pride from our second half performance.

We started OK, but once Emmanuel Adebayor opened the scoring it always appeared to be a long way back.

When Gilberto added a fortunate deflected second on 39 minutes, it was game over, and it could have been more before the break but for some good goalkeeping.

The second period saw Arsenal continue to dominate possession, but that's only to be expected at the Emirates. They hit the woodwork twice in a minute, but we were defending OK and giving our fans something to shout about.

Arsenal should have been down to ten men when Alexander Hleb struck Graeme Murty in the face, off the ball, but the referee did not see it and the midfielder was very lucky to get away with an act he will not be proud of.

We had a couple of moments in front of goal, which gave us a little bit of hope. Bobby Convey and Andre Bikey forced Jens Lehmann into saves, but we were always wary at the other end, exemplified when sub Michael Duberry had to clear one off his own line from Cesc Fabregas.

One can never be overly critical of the Royals against a side as good as Arsenal. Once they went ahead it was always going to be exceptionally difficult, but we dug in and played with some pride.

There are three games left in our relegation battle, and the same energy and commitment in those fixtures will give us every chance of survival.

Reading (5-4-1): Hahnemann; Murty (c), Rosenior, Bikey, Ingimarsson, Sonko (Duberry 73); Cisse, Harper (Fae 73), Kebe (Matejovsky 79), Convey; Kitson
Subs: Federici, Doyle
Booked: Kitson (foul 27), Bikey (foul 58), Sonko (foul 70)

Arsenal: Lehmann; Toure (Eboue 60), Clichy, Gallas (c), Song; Fabregas, Gilberto, Walcott, Hleb (Denilson 73); Adebayor (Bendtner 73) , Van Persie
Subs: Mannone, Senderos

Attendance: 60,109

Ref: P Walton

First half
Reading lined up with a 5-4-1 formation, and Steve Coppell made six changes to his starting eleven, bringing in Jimmy Kebe, Graeme Murty, Ibrahima Sonko, Bobby Convey, Dave Kitson and Kalifa Cisse.

Liam Rosenior switched to left back and was given a man-marking job on Theo Walcott. Sonko was to shadow Emmanuel Adebayor, and Andre Bikey's job was to stick with Robin Van Persie.

Cesc Fabregas had a good sight of goal with nine minutes gone, but his shot was poor and comfortably saved by Marcus Hahnemann.

We then had a decent spell, with a couple of near things in front of Jens Lehmann's goal. Kitson went close on the end of a Rosenior free kick, and Kebe tried to get his head on a Kitson cross from the left but it was too high.

But as we hit the midway point of the half, Arsenal took control. We were regularly struggling to get the ball clear, and Walcott almost got in down the right.

Next to try his luck was Van Persie, who curled a free kick just wide. Referee Peter Walton incorrectly gave a corner, and from the set piece Alexandre Song should have hit the target but he headed wide.

Then just after the half hour the goal finally came. Kolo Toure chipped in a nice pass for Adebayor, and he evaded Ibrahima Sonko, took a touch and sidefooted home.

Arsenal continued to press, and we just couldn't get the ball out of our own third as they kept hold of the ball.

With 39 on the clock, Arsenal had a second. Although it was no surprise when it came, there was still a large slice of fortune. Fabregas found Gilberto Silva on the edge of the box, and his shot would have been easily saved, only to take a deflection off Bikey's head and in.

The final few moments of the half saw us defend desperately, and Hahnemann made three important saves in the last three minutes. First Van Persie should have scored but shot straight at him, then Toure and Gilberto were both denied by our in-form keeper.

Second half
Arsenal continued to dominate possession after the break, and Hahnemann raced out of his goal on 50 minutes to deny Walcott. The ball broke loose and the net looked unguarded, but Ivar Ingimarsson got back in time.

There were then a couple of almighty scrambles inside our box, and Kitson had to clear desperately, while the Gunners wanted a penalty for handball by Murty, but it was a complete accident as it bounced up on him.

On the hour, Alexander Hleb should have been sent off for striking Murty in the face in an off the ball incident. The Belorussian did not help his perception in the eyes of the Reading public with his reaction, and had what they saw as the temerity to put his finger to his mouth and ask our players to be quiet as they remonstrated. There is perhaps a little bit of history with Hleb, as he also caught Brynjar Gunnarsson in the face in a previous encounter at Madejski Stadium.

Twice in three minutes Arsenal rattled our woodwork, first when Van Persie hit a brilliant free kick that hit both bar and post. Then Walcott clipped the bar with a left-footed curler.

But as time passed, we got a little more into the game.

First Convey did well to create a chance for himself, and shot from a tight angle but it was saved and tipped over by Lehmann. Next Rosenior was wrongly given offside as he prepared to get in down the right.

They were crumbs of comfort, and sub Michael Duberry cleared off the line, then an Bikey own goal was given offside; a tight decision in our favour.

Down the other end Bikey had a couple of very late shots, one over and one saved by Lehmann at the near post.

Reading could certainly take some comfort from their second half performance, but it was a still a disappointing result given our position in the division.

At this stage of the season it's hard to see beyond the result, but when you scratch the surface of this game you must note that Arsenal are a brilliant side when they get going.

Quite simply, we could play like this against weaker teams and easily get a result. With three remaining games against teams in the bottom half, the fight for safety is just about still in our hands.