Video and Match Report: Reading 1-1 Liverpool

Liverpool drew at the Madejski Stadium to Reading after Steven Gerrard cancelled out Simon Church’s opening goal.

Match report courtesy of Click Liverpool

Liverpool’s designs on the fourth round of the FA Cup have been delayed following a 1-1 draw with Reading.

Simon Church opened the scoring for the home side in the first half but Steven Gerrard’s effort saved any upsets as the Reds left the Madejski Stadium with it all to do in the second leg.

Rafael Benitez made four changes from the team that sneaked a late win over Aston Villa on Tuesday with youngster Stephen Darby being handed the right-back role in place of the injured Glen Johnson. Martin Skrtel replaced Daniel Agger in central defence whilst Fabio Aurelio replaced Yossi Benayoun at left wing.

Alberto Aquilani was denied a third consecutive start for the Reds and had to settle for a place on the substitutes’ bench as Benitez opted to partner captain Steven Gerrard in central midfield alongside Lucas Leiva whilst David Ngog partnered Fernando Torres up front.

The opening minutes of the match were fairly non eventful until 10 minutes in when Jobi McAnuff evaded Emiliano Insua and fired a cross into the path of Gylfi Sigurðsson who saw his deflected half-volley bounce out for a goal kick. Three minutes later the Royals had the ball in the back of the net.

Sigurðsson was the architect for a well-angled free kick which found Grzegorz Rasiak after a goalmouth melee, but the goal was chalked off after Polish striker was adjudged to have obstructed Pepe Reina.

Ngog pulled a shot wide from the edge of the area after some good build-up play by Dirk Kuyt but not before Darby, a product of the club’s legendary youth academy, had made a decisive block to deny Rasiak as Reading advanced.

The Reds had not conceded a solitary goal in their two games prior to visiting the Madejski Stadium but all hopes of a third consecutive clean sheet for Reina were dashed on 23 minutes courtesy of Church.

Failure by Liverpool’s defence to deal with set pieces were exposed when Rasiak was allowed to flick the ball across the face of the goalmouth at the far post into the path of the Welshman who had the simplest of tasks to nudge home past Reina.

Torres attempted to deliver an equaliser on the half-hour mark but powered a header wide after a well-struck cross by Kuyt as Reading attempted to secure their status as FA Cup giant killers.

The equaliser came five minutes later when Gerrard curled a deceptive cross-cum-shot into the area which Kuyt swung a foot above in a bid to distract Adam Federici in the Reading goal. The ploy worked as the Australian was powerless to stop the captain’s effort despite dubious claims of offside by the home support.

Liverpool started to come out of their shell with Kuyt again laying off Aurelio but his Brazilian fired his shot wide once again as the visitors finished the half the stronger of the sides.

Torres found himself with a perfect opportunity for Liverpool to take the lead after the interval when Ngog lost possession in the Reading area. The ball fell to the Spaniard who hit a curling shot that dipped just over Federici’s crossbar.

Reading’s immediate response was a dangerous one after Sigurðsson had muscled Lucas off the ball before unleashing a shot from outside the area which was blocked by Reina with the tie very much up for grabs. On 64 minutes they threatened again with goalscorer Church fizzing a ball across the face of the box which Reina failed to reach as did Rasiak, who was blocked off by Darby.

Aquilani was given his first taste of the world’s oldest cup competition as Benitez pushed Gerrard further forward to resume his formidable partnering with Torres. During this time the Royals saw Federici limp off with a hamstring problem and replaced by young stopper Ben Hamer.

Caretaker boss Brian McDermott also introduced a face from Liverpool’s FA Cup past when Brian Howard took to the field. The 26-year-old netted the winning goal when the Reds succumbed to a 5th round defeat to Barnsley in 2008.

Reading made sure it was a fraught finish for the visitors by piling on the pressure, haranguing the Reds at every opportunity. Reina was called upon to deal with several Royals attacks as McAnuff continued to cause problems down the right-hand side.

Four additional minutes at the end of the second half could not separate the sides despite Torres going close; meeting a Benayoun cross but saw his effort dip over the bar. Liverpool are set to play host to the Championship outfit in a replay at Anfield in a fortnight’s time.

Final score: Reading 1-1 Liverpool

Reading: Federici (Hamer 68), Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, Cisse (Howard), Gunnarsson, McAnuff, Karacan, Sigurdsson, Church, Rasiak (Long 76). Subs not used: Pearce, Tabb, Kebe, Robson-Kanu.

Liverpool: Reina, Darby, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Kuyt, Gerrard, Lucas, Aurelio (Benayoun 79), Ngog (Aquilani 67), Torres. Subs not used: Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Babel, Spearing, Degen.

Got something to say? Submit your views below!

1. lfc fan says:

   2nd January, 2010 at 7:59 pm

   Terrible performance again, and its wrong to say rafa should go, as i believe he is the right man for the job. He just needs to change the way we play football, different tactics might work, but we really need to play better football.

   Todays match was live on ITV1, what a treat! but no. It was awful watching us just punt the ball up the field CONSISTENTLY!! We need to pass short and make something called MOVEMENT.

   Lucas and n’gog played well but insua and darby were shit

   Reply
2. red from Germany says:

   3rd January, 2010 at 12:19 pm

   Yes I agree, a very very poor performance again. Even though we play bad football we have to win against a side like Reading no matter who plays.  The midfield wasn’t creative once again and Aquilani seems to be not adapted to the way of Premier League football. Whenever he has the ball he needed too much time to make something creative…these times he didn’t lose the ball (like Lucas).
   Hopefully Rafael van der Vaart joins us in the next weeks. I still know him from his time in Hamborg. A great player who would help us. Another striker is also essential

   Reply
3. Arddian says:

   4th January, 2010 at 12:10 pm

   Darby was the best in second half !!!

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