Reading 1-1 Pool : GERRARD rescued Liverpool and Rafa again
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SURELY,ITS LIVERPOOL!!!YESS!!THIS IS IT!!!!!!FA CUP OURS,SURELY!!!I CAN SMELL FA CUP NO 8!!!!!!!!!!!!SURELY,ITS HAS TO BE THIS YEAR!!!!YESS!!OUR SEASON STARTS NOW!!!!!!!GO POOL GO!!!!!!!!!!!
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STEVEN GERRARD rescued Liverpool once again after Reading threatened FA Cup misery for under-fire Kop boss Rafa Benitez.
Skipper Gerrard's cross-shot earned the Reds a third-round replay after Simon Church punished their nervy first-half hour.
And, judging by the way manager-less Reading belied their Championship struggles, Benitez faces an anxious 90 minutes in the Anfield re-match.
Royals' man-of-the-match Jobi McAnuff said: "Before the game we would have probably taken the draw and the chance to go there and get a result.
"It's a great place to play football, we'll really enjoy it and hopefully get another chance to go and express ourselves and get a result again."
Liverpool's season has seen them knocked out of the Champions League and also struggle to keep pace with others teams in the hunt for a top-four place in the Premier League, so the cup has been seen as one of their only genuine chances of success.
With that in mind, Benitez picked a strong team, including Gerrard and Torres.
But they started poorly, not helped by the tricky conditions at Reading's ground, a venue that also hosts rugby games for London Irish.
The hosts had the ball in the net when Jobi McAnuff met Pepe Reina's punch but the header was correctly ruled out as Grzegorz Rasiak was offside and also impeded the Liverpool goalkeeper to allow the finish to trickle over the line.
Referee Martin Atkinson rejected Reading appeals for a penalty when Martin Skrtel tugged slightly on Gylfi Sigurdsson's shirt as he turned in the corner of the area.
But Emiliano Insua finally went in the book when he fouled McAnuff on the right flank - a foul that proved costly.
Ryan Bertrand swung over the deep free-kick to the far post, with most Liverpool players expecting the ball to drift out of play. They failed to consider Rasiak darting around Lucas Leiva and volleying the ball back from the left byline. Church could scarcely miss at the near post - and, via a shin, he did not.
Liverpool looked to Torres to get them back in the game, the Spain striker heading just wide when Dirk Kuyt crossed from the right channel.
It was their other talisman, Gerrard, who grabbed the equaliser. The midfielder picked the ball up 25 yards from goal and shaped to cross, with Kuyt stepping over the delivery to fool Federici.
Reading's disgruntled fans spotted their former manager on his duties as a pundit and chanted "we want our Coppell back", as they hope for a return to the days of success.
The club have been in freefall since relegation from the top flight two seasons ago and the likes of Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt have been sold - but at least the current players were not giving up. Sigurdsson unleashed a swerving shot that required a decent Reina save.
Reading: Federici (Hamer 69), Gunnarsson, Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, McAnuff, Cisse (Howard 74), Karacan, Sigurdsson, Church, Rasiak (Long 77). Subs Not Used: Tabb, Kebe, Robson-Kanu, Pearce.
Booked: Mills.
Goals: Church 24.
Liverpool: Reina, Darby, Skrtel, Carragher, Insua, Kuyt, Lucas, Gerrard, Aurelio (Benayoun 79), Torres, Ngog (Aquilani 68). Subs Not Used: Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Babel, Spearing, Degen.
Booked: Insua.
Goals: Gerrard 36.
Att: 23,656
Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
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How lucky can rafa get? we'll see.
He's always lucky though
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just temporary relieve him of mgr or promote him to be technical dir of football... since no $$$ to sack him....
get kenny to caretake...
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Kenny is old already, and he don't have the appetite for the challenge anymore... And also he crack under pressure easily... And recently the interviewed he gave, he said he was enjoying what he is doing right now for the club... Being involved with the youth side and be an ambassador for the club like Bobby Charlton...
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Rafa has been given more control of the club, like sir Alex... But it has back fired on him big time, now questions are being asked...
One football pundit (i cant remember the name) picked up of the lack of form from Liverpool, and said its the worse team in 10 years!!!
I bet he was not saying that last year, and the team has not changed that much!!!