Published: 31 March, 2013
By TOM FOOT

Premier League
ARSENAL 4, READING 1

ARSENAL dominated this match from start to finish but they are more and more losing control of the ball.

Exceptional first-time touches and precision passing have been basic requirements of players since Arsene Wenger took over – so much so that watching it felt routine. But these twin qualities have gradually been slipping away in the past few years – since close-control masters such as Alex Hleb, Dennis Bergkamp and Cesc Fabregas left the club. Now just two or three players like this remain in the team.

No player better epitomises this change than Gervinho, a player so fast he seems to forget his feet. He will get praise for a lively and productive performance in which he scored a tap-in and set up two others. But he simply cannot control the ball and almost always fails to strike it cleanly.

Olivier Giroud has a similar blundering approach that has not been seen around these parts for at least 15 years.

After the match, Wenger said: "Gervinho has played in a very negative atmosphere for a long time and I think he lost confidence – that is a dangerous game. But he was the best player at the African Cup of Nations and he is showing that he can be very dangerous again."

There is a lack of authority and confidence running through this new crop, excluding Santi Cazorla. He had a hatful of chances and should have scored three against woeful opposition. His finish, a side-foot pass clipped with banana-like swerve, looked so simple.

It was Cazorla's deflected shot that Gervinho turned in on seven minutes to put the Gunners ahead. Shortly after Cazorla's goal – early in the second half – Giroud lashed home Gervinho's pass after a swift counter-attack that followed a Reading corner.

Reading got one back through a diving header from Hal Robson Kanu, but Mikel Arteta put the match out of sight with a spot-kick after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was shoved in the box.

Thomas Vermaelen and Wojciech Szczesny were once again left out of the side, with Fabianski staking his claim as Arsenal's current first-choice keeper.

This win, which also featured a standing ovation for David Rocastle on the 12th anniversary of his death, means Arsenal are two points behind fourth-place Chelsea and four behind Spurs with a game in hand.