TWO GOALS from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain fired Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup with a 2-0 win over Reading at the Emirates Stadium.
The Royals were competing well in the first half until a sloppy error from Joey van den Berg gifted Oxlade-Chamberlain the chance to break the deadlock.
And it could have been game over earlier than when the winger doubled his tally on 77 minutes were it not for some brilliant saves from Ali Al-Habsi to deny the likes of Olivier Giroud and Alex Iwobi.
Reading had their moments and Jaap Stam will be encouraged by their good spells of possession but ultimately they were beaten by the better side on the night, suffering a 14th loss from 14 against the Gunners.
As expected Arsenal made wholesale changes but still boasted five full internationals in their side including Englishmen Oxlade-Chamberlain and captain Kieran Gibbs.
Stam also shuffled his pack a little bit, bringing in Dominic Samuel, Callum Harriott and Tennai Watson for Yann Kermorgant, Roy Beerens and the suspended Chris Gunter.
There were two more changes for Stam with Tyler Blackett and George Evans recalled in favour of Danny Williams and John Swift.
And it was Arsenal who started well with a fine move playing right-back Carl Jenkinson in but his shot was well saved by Ali Al-Habsi.
Oxlade-Chamberlain then drilled wide after Liam Kelly conceded possession in a dangerous area.
But it was not all one-way traffic. The visitors were certainly not afraid to play their own game, building their way out from the back and enjoying some good spells of pressure without really penetrating.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles was the next to try his luck for the home side, curling agonisingly wide before Jordan Obita had Reading’s first shot, but it was comfortably held by Emiliano Martinez.
The game soon came to life with chances at both ends, Lucas Perez guilty of squandering a two-on-one and allowing Watson to get back and clear while at the other end Garath McCleary was brilliantly denied by Gibbs.
The first goal did finally arrive just past the half hour mark, but it was mistakes all of Reading’s own doing.
Joey van den Berg sloppily gave the ball away and Oxlade-Chamberlain punished him, darting down the right and finishing brilliantly across goal.
The Royals almost levelled before the break when Harriott’s shot deflected up off Gabriel and wrong-footed Martinez, but the ball landed on the roof of the net.
Stam wasted little time and adding an extra option up front after the break, bringing Yann Kermorgant on in place of Harriott to give Royals more of a focal point.
And the Frenchman was immediately in the thick of the action, planting a firm header towards the top corner but Martinez did well to hold on.
But Arsenal had a Frenchman of their own to introduce and a former team-mate of Kermorgant in Olivier Giroud.
The big striker came so close to marking his return from injury with a goal as he glanced on Mohamed Elneny’s free-kick but Al-Habsi made a superb one-handed save to deny him before Liam Moore headed off the line.
And Giroud was pivotal in Arsenal’s next attack, laying the ball off for Oxlade-Chamberlain to strike but Al-Habsi again produced a smart stop before Iwobi tripped over his own feet on the rebound.
But Iwobi did hit the target moments later, only for Al-Habsi to again produce the save.
However, the Omani stopper could do nothing to prevent the Gunners going 2-0 up on 77 minutes when Oxlade-Chamberlain bagged his second, firing low from the edge of the box and his effort flew up off the foot of Obita and past the stranded Al-Habsi.
There was time for one last Reading flourish as Kermorgant fired in a low free-kick, but Martinez got down well to brilliantly parry away and preserve his clean sheet.
READING: Al-Habsi (c); Watson (Gravenberch 68), L. Moore, Blackett, Obita; Evans, van den Berg (Quinn 80), Kelly; McCleary, Harriott (Kermorgant 56), Samuel.
Subs not used: S. Moore, Wieser, Swift, Meite.
Yellow cards: McCleary (75), Moore (79)
ARSENAL: Martinez; Jenkinson, Gabriel, Holding, Gibbs (c); Maitland-Niles, Elneny; Oxlade-Chamberlain (Zelalem 80), Iwobi, Reine-Adelaide (Giroud 65); Lucas (Willock 72).
Subs not used: Macey, Bielik, Bola, Sheaf.
Goals: Oxlade-Chamberlain x2 (33,77)
Referee: Graham Scott
Attendance: 59,865
