Liverpool 4, Reading 2

Two things happened early in the second half of this match that allowed Liverpool to play their game. First, we got an early goal on a well-played ball from Leto to Torres who beat Duberry and slotted it into side of the net past Federici. Then I guess the ref got tired of watching Reading turn the beautiful game into a pub brawl and started handing out the yellow cards. It's so odd that players I singled out in the first half, Duberry and Bikey, got cards, because, I mean, they played with such class. Once those two things occurred, Reading could no longer bully our side less they wanted to be reduced to ten.

With them having to allow us more space by not being able to grab a hold of our shirts, all of sudden we became a threat to score nearly every time we brought the ball down. Unfortunately that didn't do anything for our set-piece defense which was frantically horrid. I attest that to two things though, having Itandje make his first team debut and having Arbeloa play for the first time at centre back. The lack of communication on defense was apparent from the start and didn't seem to improve much as the match wore on.

It was because of our set-piece defense that Reading again equalized when a bobbled corner kick fell into John Halls' lap and the defender slammed it through a maze of legs into the back of the net. If either Pepe, Hyypia, or even Agger were in there I doubt it would have ever gotten to Halls as it was complete chaos in the box prior to and during the play. We didn't really seem that bothered by the equalizer, but then Rafa made a great decision anyhow to further tilt the match back in our favor.

Around the 69th minute, Riise came on for Aurelio and immediately made his presence felt. He took the ball down the left, faked out a Reading defender by passing it to himself through the defender's legs, and then dribbled closer to the box until he found a charging Torres to lay it off to. The Spaniard slammed the ball across the box and into the upper right corner of the goal. After that, Reading looked a side lacking confidence.

Once Gerrard came on in the 77th minute, the match was fully in Liverpool's grasp and with four minutes left a Gerrard to Torres pass made it all but official. The England International found the streaking Spanish International with no one left to beat but the keeper, which he did almost effortlessly.

Though not a perfect effort, it was a win on the road with a rotated side. Certainly our inability to utilize the whole field, Crouch reverting back to his ineffective ways, and the Itandje/defense communication issues are things that we need to work on. Also I was disappointed not to see Lucas more involved on the attack, which was one of the reasons why it seemed that Benayoun had free range of the field.

Despite Torres getting the hat-trick, I'm going to have to say Yossi was the Man of the Match. He made some huge plays including our first goal which was crucial because it forced the Reading defense to respect him as much as any other threat. He also had a header clearance in the box late in the match that if he didn't get to, might have allowed Reading to equalize once again. Most importantly he stepped up and took the initiative to run the offense when it looked as if no one else was going to. That kind of leadership is just priceless.

Next up, Wigan on Saturday at the JJB. Hopefully Kuyt will bring his ace form. Cheers.