Reading 3 Liverpool 1:There is a perception Rafael Benitez can do little wrong in the eyes of Liverpool supporters but this fixture will long be recalled as the game when the Spaniard not only got barely anything right but also conceded defeat with 20 minutes remaining. The Liverpool manager was disappointed with the officials at key moments but many of the travelling fans must have departed cursing their manager's decision-making.
From the inclusion of Jamie Carragher, who should have picked up a yellow card that would have ruled him out of Sunday's crucial game against Manchester United, to the 4-3-3 formation which Peter Crouch later admitted the players were not overly familiar with, to the substitution of Steven Gerrard when Liverpool were two goals behind, so much of what Benitez did was difficult to comprehend.
More of the same in Marseille tomorrow and the Spaniard may be on borrowed time.
Benitez said the Marseille fixture, which Liverpool must win to be sure of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages, was uppermost in his mind when he withdrew Gerrard but the idea a League match against Reading can be sacrificed will alarm the club's fans as well as George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the American owners.
"Tuesday is like a cup final, not like Reading where you can resign yourself to losing three points," said Benitez.
Progress in the Champions League might provide a financial windfall, but the €56 million investment in the summer was made with the intention of bringing the league title to Liverpool. The wait looks likely to last at least another year.
It remains to be seen whether Benitez will still be around then.
Benitez, recalling the 3-0 win at St James' Park a fortnight ago, when Liverpool also started with a three-prong attack, refused to concede he had chosen the wrong formation, but he neglected to mention the personnel were different. There was no sign Crouch and Andriy Voronin were comfortable on the flanks here.
Fernando Torres, playing through the middle, managed to set up Gerrard's neat goal but his own threat was sporadic. The Spaniard should, however, have earned a penalty in the second half when Ibrahima Sonko hauled down the striker.
Benitez was aggrieved about that decision, but he was wrong to think Liverpool should have already had a spot-kick after another incident involving the same players. Sonko clearly made contact with the ball when Torres tumbled to the ground in the 37th minute.
Replays didn't prove whether referee Andre Marriner was right to give Reading a penalty when Carragher collided with Brynjar Gunnarsson. Stephen Hunt converted, although Liverpool avoided further punishment when Carragher escaped the card that would have brought a suspension.
Kevin Doyle, getting the slightest of touches on Nicky Shorey's free-kick, scored Reading's second before James Harper converted a wonderful solo goal, the midfielder outpacing John Arne Riise and going round Jose Reina to tap into an empty net. Gerrard, who between those two goals had hit the crossbar, departed four minutes later as Benitez sought to "protect" his talisman.
