Reading 5-7 Arsenal

Arsenal staged an unbelievable comeback as they hit back from 4-0 down to incredibly beat Reading 7-5 in the Capital One Cup.

The Royals had scored four goals in 25 first-half minutes but Brian McDermott's side conceded two goals in the last two minutes of normal time before crashing out of the competition in extra time on a stunning, inexplicable night. The tone of the first half was set in the first couple of minutes when Sean Morrison's header crashed against the post. The Royals deservedly took the lead in the 12th minute when Noel Hunt's pass sent Hal Robson-Kanu running clear down the left and his pinpoint cross was smashed into the roof of the net from six yards out by Jason Roberts. It was soon to get much worse for the Gunners as Chris Gunter's cross was deflected home by Laurent Koscielny before Damian Martinez could only palm Mikele Leigertwood's shot into his own net. After a brief respite, Reading added a fourth goal when Gareth McCleary's cross was headed home via the post by Hunt. Arsenal were unable to cope with Reading's raids down the flanks, although Arsene Wenger's side did pull a goal back on the stroke of half time when Theo Walcott raced clear down the middle before clipping the ball over Adam Federici. Both teams had chances to score more goals at the start of the second half with Walcott going close for the visitors and Hal Robson-Kanu almost adding a fifth goal for the Royals. Midway through the second half a corner from the right was superbly headed home by substitute Olivier Giroud only two minutes after the Frenchman had come onto the pitch. With two minutes left, Koscielny headed a corner into the right net before, with the last kick of normal time, Carl Jenkinson grabbed the equaliser. In the 112th minute, the former Bordeaux star Marouane Chamakh fired a low drive from the edge of the area past Adam Federici but the Royals responded to make it 5-5 when Pavel Pogrebnyak headed home. It seemed as though the match was heading to penalties until, after Andrey Arshavin's shot had been cleared off the line, Walcott smashed the ball into the net, before Chamkah lobbed in the 12th goal of a truly amazing match with the last kick.