Long leaves Liverpool to pick up pieces

FA CUP: Liverpool 1 Reading 2:LIVERPOOL MAY have viewed the FA Cup as a shot at redemption but there was no relief to be found at Anfield last night. Reading produced a stunning FA Cup third-round replay victory as Liverpool's disastrous season went from bad to worse.

Rafael Benitez’s team lost Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to injury, and were finally pegged back when Gylfi Sigurdsson converted a 93rd-minute penalty. And then in extra time Reading stunned the Kop by taking the lead after 100 minutes.

Bryn Gunnarsson pushed the ball between Emiliano Insua’s legs on the right and crossed for Shane Long to thump home a close range header.

Benitez’s side were again insipid against the Championship club and supremely fortunate in terms of Gerrard’s opening goal and with the profligacy in Reading’s performance. With nine minutes of normal time remaining Jobi McAnuff waltzed from his own half and found himself with only Diego Cavalieri to beat in the Liverpool goal. An agonising shot wide appeared to have encapsulated the visiting performance but, with seconds remaining, Yossi Benayoun tripped Long inside the area and Brian McDermott’s side claimed a deserved reward of extra time.

Benitez’s pre-match instruction to his players was simple: no mistakes. The politest assessment of Liverpool’s performance was that they misheard everything their manager said. A more critical analysis of a display that did nothing to thaw the freezing home supporters until first half stoppage time would argue that the side, even with Gerrard, Alberto Aquilani and, for 29 minutes at least, Torres in tow, remains wracked with inconsistency and undermined by mediocre contributions.

Having received rich encouragement from McAnuff’s dominance of Insua at the Madejski Stadium 11 days previously, McDermott’s team knew how and where to disturb their illustrious hosts. Hitting Liverpool on the counter-attack and targeting the Argentinian at left-back therefore came as no surprise, but Benitez’s team were often powerless to stem the supply to the Reading attack.

A controlled opening from Liverpool brought little threat to Adam Federici’s goal, save for a Gerrard cross that Ryan Bertrand deflected wide of his own goal and a Dirk Kuyt effort that was smothered beneath a mass of defenders. It was Reading who created the clearer openings. Cavalieri, handed a rare start in place of Jose Reina, punched clear when Sigurdsson directed a free-kick towards his top corner before the visitors twice carved Liverpool open down the right.

Simon Church easily stepped inside Daniel Agger and sent a measured cross towards Grzegorz Rasiak at the back post. Jamie Carragher inexplicably missed what should have been a routine clearance and he was reprieved when the surprised Reading striker scuffed a shot off his shins and over. Moments later McAnuff picked out the run of Church with a delightful cross and was left with his head in his hands as his target failed to connect with a diving header from six yards.

Anfield was aghast not only at Reading’s opportunity but an error-strewn performance from the majority of their outfield players. Anxiety was not helped when Torres was taken off before the half hour mark after falling awkwardly when he attempted to spin on the by-line, although the early word was that his removal was merely a precaution against a twisted knee. Gerrard was also an early departure, failing to reappear for the second half, but he had left his mark beforehand.

A tepid first half appeared to be petering out when a corner from the Liverpool captain fell to Benayoun and the midfielder had a half-volley deflected over. From the resultant corner, a series of kind ricochets all fell Liverpool’s way and an attempted cross by Gerrard struck Ryan Bertrand, wrong-footed the Reading goalkeeper and sailed into the net.

The sheepishness in Gerrard’s celebrations were understandable, although without their two leading lights there was a slight improvement in Liverpool after the interval. Ivar Ingimarsson was, like Church before him, inches from connecting with a free header in front of Cavalieri before McAnuff missed the chance of the game before extra time.

Guardian Service

LIVERPOOL:Cavalieri, Degen (Skrtel 91), Carragher, Agger, Insua, Lucas, Aquilani, Kuyt, Gerrard (Babel 46), Benayoun, Torres (Ngog 29). Subs Not Used: Gulacsi, Aurelio, Spearing, Pacheco. Booked: Degen.

READING:Federici, Gunnarsson, Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, McAnuff, Cisse (Howard 59), Karacan (Long 81), Sigurdsson, Rasiak (Kebe 65), Church. Subs Not Used: Hamer, Tabb, Matejovsky, Pearce. Booked: Karacan, Mills, Ingimarsson, Gunnarsson.

Referee:Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).