ROYALS SHOT DOWN BY RUTHLESS ARSENAL
READING FC Women fell to their second defeat of the season as Vivianne Miedema netted a brace to give Arsenal a convincing win at the Select Car Leasing Stadium.
The Gunners went ahead through Jen Beattie and were three ahead before the break as Beth Mead and Miedema got on the scoresheet.
Dutch striker Miedema completed her brace early in the second half as the Royal were dealt a second consecutive defeat in the Women’s Super League.
Kelly Chambers initially named the same starting eleven that lost at Manchester United on the opening weekend.
However, the Reading boss was forced into a late change as goalkeeper Grace Moloney had to pull out due to injury and
Rhiannon Stewart made her WSL debut.
The visitors made a fast start as Mead tricked her way into the box and cut the ball back for Miedema, but the usual clinical striker took one touch too many which allowed a Reading body to get in the way of her shot.
The Gunners kept the heat on as a ball was floated into the back post and met by Kate McCabe who headed inches wide.
Gemma Evans made a crucial intervention to prevent Reading from going behind as she got in the way of Mead’s goal bound attempt.
But from the resulting corner Arsenal went ahead as Jen Beattie got free of her marker and headed the ball past Stewart.
Rachel Rowe was handed the first booking of the game as she clashed heads with Lia Walti with a late challenge, but both players were fine to continue.
Having seen the away side dominate possession for much of the half, the Royals stole the ball with a high press which created their first chance of the match as Emma Harries forced a save from Manu Zinsberger.
On the half-hour mark, Arsenal found their second goal of the afternoon as a shot deflected into the path of Mead who controlled the ball beautifully into the top corner beyond the reach of the keeper on the half volley.
It wasn’t long before Jonas Eidevall side had a third, just two minutes after their second.
Mead continued to terrorise the Reading defence as she eased her way into the box past two defenders before she unselfishly laid the ball across to Miedema who tucked the ball into the corner.
The Royals struggled to keep Arsenal at bay as Mead’s header floated just over the top.
Reading had the last chance of the half from a corner and had a half-hearted appeal for a penalty as Brooke Chaplen was felled in the box, but went down too easily for the liking of the referee.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first as Arsenal added to their tally just five minutes in as Miedema met Mead’s cross to the back post to nod into the far corner.
That prompted the first change from Chambers as Justine Vanhaevermaet entered for her Royals debut in place of Chloe Peplow.
Chambers made her second switch in the 65th minute as Canadian international Deanne Rose came on for her debut in place of Harries.
The Arsenal pressure relented slightly in the final quarter of the match as Reading managed to have some possession of their own.
Vanhaevermaet brought more urgency to the Reading attack and had a couple of attempts at goal that drifted just wide.
Reading forged their best chance of the match in the 90th minute as Zinsberger made a super save to deny Amalie Eikeland from close range, but the full-time whistle came to end a disappointing afternoon for the Royals.
The Royals will be hoping to find their first points of the new campaign when they Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, September 26.