Gerrard on the mark to spoil Church service
Posted Monday, January 04, 2010 by The Independent
Reading 1 Liverpool 1: Liverpool talisman's fortunate equaliser prevents Reading youngster pulling off shock of the day
With live coverage on terrestrial television at the end of such a dull afternoon, the nation was looking to Reading to conjure some of that old Cup magic. They are neither the club nor the team they were when Liverpool last played in Berkshire two years ago, but they made a decent fist of yesterday evening's tie and deserved to earn a lucrative replay at Anfield on Wednesday week against a side now 33 places ahead of them. Although one punch was successfully landed midway through the first half, Simon Church, a 21-year-old striker, putting them ahead, a knockout proved just beyond them.
Jobi McAnuff, a lively presence down Reading's right flank, won the individual honours from his opposite number Dirk Kuyt, who was instrumental in a Liverpool recovery that never reached its expected conclusion. Having been granted a slightly fortunate equaliser from Steven Gerrard, the visitors did not manage to impose any presumed superiority during a second half of disappointingly little goalmouth incident.
Rafa Benitez, who in his first season underestimated the importance of the competition, fielding a weakened FA Cup team at Burnley and suffering the embarrassment of elimination, did at least make fewer changes than many Premier League sides yesterday, bearing in mind that Glen Johnson and Javier Mascherano were both unavailable. "We have chances to win trophies in the Europa league and the FA Cup so we'll try our best in both," he said of his team selection. "I am disappointed because we didn't want to play more games, but credit to Reading."
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