Torres makes his point, again and again and again!

Reading 2
Convey (28), Halls (64)

Liverpool 4
Benayoun (23), Torres (50), (72), (86)

Rafa Benitez’s rotation policy attracted plenty of unwanted pre match coverage in Tuesday’s press. However, does this result allay any of these debates? Not really. Fernando Torres’ superb hat trick merely provides it with further fuel.

So will Benitez have mixed feelings tonight? A win but seemingly his decision to rest Torres on Saturday undermined? Probably not, time and time again he’s proved he is his own man. So it should have been no surprise that, in an almost “I don’t care what you write or think stunt” he should make nine changes from the Birmingham game. Bloody minded or what? For the c**p that’s been hurled at him recently you have to admire him for continuing to have the courage of his convictions.

In the area of contention Crouch and Torres started. This was Rafa’s sixth different striking combination and their first partnership of the season. In the pre match interview he seemed surprised that this was the case. Does this lend credibility to those mischievous theorists who maintain that he picks his team by pulling numbered balls out of a bag!

The early incidents of the game all seemed to involve Reading’s Bikey. The first happened after only a couple of seconds when he fairly tackled the on rushing Torres only for the Spaniard to fall awkwardly on his ankle. Luckily the pain was short lived. Bikey then showed that he wasn’t going to put off by his reputation by holding him off the ball almost to the point where Torres almost ended up in the stands! However, the Reading man was on the wrong end of a move which saw our first goal. Benayoun picked up the ball in midfield and went on a surging run, leaving Bikey’s boot swinging at fresh air, before firing home from just inside the area. Torres then skinned him shortly after only to drag his shot wide.

In between this Lita missed two very good chances for Reading. A sign of things to come? Sure enough an unmarked Convey, rifled home with at least three Reading players in “offside” positions and one of them, Lita, definitely active. A poor referring decision and not the first of the night.

After that the game opened up with Reading going close on a number of occasions in particularly Convey who forced a decent save from Itandje. This continued into the second half. We started decently with Torres putting Lato through with an excellent ball. Unfortunately the Argentinean’s cross was poor, or was it a shot? Either way it was wasted. Lato was to atone for this almost immediately. After exchanging passes with Torres in midfield he put the Spaniard through on goal with an excellent through ball. Torres showed him how it should be done, 2-1.

Later Torres moved ahead in his contest with Bikey when he was clearly bought down by the Reading defender, a pull and then and a shove. However, the referee, as he was for most of the night, proved well off the pace.

Just when it looked as if things were going well the wheels came off again. This is fast becoming the story of our season? Itandje failed to convincingly deal with a Reading corner, the ball fell to Halls who’s first shot was stopped by a gang of red shirts. The rebound gave him a second chance, this time he made no mistake firing home through the crowd of red with Itandje nowhere. A poor goal to concede with Itandje failing to stamp his authority on proceedings when he needed to.

The game was getting better and better by the minute and now it was our turn again. Riise, on for Aurelio capitalized on Fae’s inability to cut out Lato’s ball and found space on the left. He beat the tracking back Fae again and his cross come cut back was consummately dispatched by Torres.

Lita then went close with an overhead kick but, the game was sealed in the most emphatic way. Gerrard, on for Crouch, beat the offside trap to send Torres gliding down the length the Reading half unopposed. He won the one on one with the keeper rounding him to complete the hat trick. What was also pleasing is that before he decided to round the keeper he looked left and right to see if anyone had run up into a better position even though he was on a hat trick.

Elsewhere Lucas had an assured game, Lato showed more promise and Benayoun again suggested he would be a more than adequate replacement if drafted into the first team. On the flip side, Itandje didn’t do himself any favours with the second goal and Crouch looked laboured, lacking in sharpness and generally out of sorts.

However it was Torres’ night. Movement, awareness, strength, teamwork and, above all, finishing -four shots, three on target, three goals. How many of our strikers could boast those stats in any of ours games last season? He was battered and bullied by Reading, Bikey and Duberry being the chief protagonists, but kept his cool and kept coming back to eventually get his revenge in the best possible way.

For all the talk of rotation, championships and all the other guff that preoccupies managers and the like, the basic fact is that this was a great individual performance and thoroughly entertaining to watch, which, at the end of the day, is what it’s really all about? Isn’t it?

Over to you Rafa!

Reading: Federici, Halls (Kitson 80), Duberry, Bikey, Shorey, De la Cruz, Harper, Convey (Hunt 80), Fae, Long (Henry 79), Lita.
Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Cisse.

Liverpool: Itandje, Finnan, Carragher, Lucas (Hobbs 89), Aurelio (Riise 69), Arbeloa, Benayoun, Sissoko, Leto, Crouch (Gerrard 77), Torres.