After the match : Reading 1-2 Liverpool

READING 1 – 2 LIVERPOOL Saturday 07 April 2007 15:00 , Barclays Premiership

REDS BEAT READING TO STAY THIRD Watch Liverpool Match Highlights&Goals Clip Videos : Here Liverpool have tightened their grip on a Champions League place after goals from Alvaro Arbeloa and Dirk Kuyt gave them to a 2-1 win over Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday that keeps them third in the Premiership. Arbeloa’s 15th minute strike, his first for the club, was cancelled out by Brynjar Gunnarsson at the start of the second half, but second half substitutes Jermaine Pennant and Dirk Kuyt combined to give the Reds all three points and complete an excellent week after wins over Arsenal and PSV Eindhoven. It’s a sixth Premiership away win of the season for Liverpool. The Reds came to Reading looking to make it a hat-trick of wins over Steve Coppell’s side after beating them in the League and the Carling Cup at Anfield earlier this season; and Rafa Benitez once again made the most of his squad by making a number of changes, with the most notable being the return of Craig Bellamy to partner Peter Crouch in attack. It was the Reading attack that provided the game’s first threat when Hunt went down under a challenge from Reina before seeing claims for a penalty waved away. And the home side continued in the ascendancy when a cross into the area evaded Reina and Hunt just failed to reach it. The Reds were under pressure, but they broke and took the lead against the run of play in the 15th minute when Alvaro Arbeloa scored his first goal for the club. It came when Arbeloa broke on the right and he continued into the area to collect Crouch’s defence splitting pass to finish coolly beyond Hahnemann and into the net. The goal gave Liverpool the platform they needed and they went on to enjoy a relatively untroubled first half while remaining dangerous themselves on the counter attack. Half time arrived without the addition of any further goals, but Rafa’s men will have gone in satisfied with what they’d done so far. Their satisfaction wouldn’t last long though because Reading emerged and equalized at the start of the second half through Brynjar Gunnarsson. There was a suspicion of offside as Gunnarsson scored across Reina and in off the post, but the goal stood and the scores were level. Liverpool responded instantly when Bellamy went down in the penalty area, but the referee ignored strong appeals for a penalty. And that was to be Bellamy’s last act because Rafa replaced him with Dirk Kuyt in the 50th minute. Reading’s equalizer proved to be the catalyst for an all action second half. Within the space of a few minutes Reading almost took the lead when Crouch headed against his own crossbar and then Liverpool nearly went in front again when an out-stretched Gerrard just failed to convert Kuyt’s pass. It was end to end and it was anyone’s guess who would win, but it was Liverpool who took a deserved three points when Jermaine Pennant crossed to Dirk Kuyt in the 85th minute and he scored with a close range header. Teams Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Hyypia, Carragher, Finnan, Gonzalez, Sissoko, Mascherano, Gerrard MBE (captain), Crouch, Bellamy. Subs – Dudek, Kuyt, Pennant, Agger, Riise Reading: Hahnemann, Shorey, Gunnarsson, Duberry, Harper, Hunt, Ingimarsson (captain), Sidwell, Oster, Doyle, Kitson. Subs – Bikey, Long, Halford, Lita, Federeci Referee: P Walton Conditions: Dry Attendance: Unknown Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Jamie Carragher Breakdown 14:00 GMT : Match Starts 1 min : Liverpool get the game underway in their all red kit 2 mins : Gonzalez is pulled back for a foul after trying to break down the left 3 mins : Reading win a corner on the right which comes to nothing 7 mins : Hunt goes down under a challenge from Reina after a quick break but the ref waves away the penalty claims 12 mins : Gerrard almost frees Bellamy with a first time pass but the Welshman is flagged offside 13 mins : Oster’s cross from the right almost deceives Reina who just manages to claw it out of play 14 mins : Reading have a free kick on the edge of the box after a foul by Hyypia on Kitson 15 mins : GOAL! Alvaro Arbeloa: Arbeloa latches on to Crouch’s pass to net his first goal for the Reds with a cool finish 22 mins : Bellamy sets up a chance for Gerrard but his shot is deflected wide for a corner 28 mins : Duberry is down injured for the home side and requires treatment 33 mins : Gerrard slides the ball to Bellamy on the right but his resulting cross is easily held by the goalkeeper 36 mins : Bellamy goes down holding his face after a challenge, much to the disgust of the home fans 45 mins : Hunt tries a spectacular effort from distance which comfortably clears the bar 14:47 GMT : Half Time Reached 15:06 GMT : Second Half Begins 46 mins : Substitution: Andre Bikey for Michael Duberry: 47 mins : GOAL! Brynjar Gunnarsson: Reading level the scores with a fine shot from Gunnarsson which flies in off the far post 49 mins : Bellamy goes down in the area but the ref turns down vehement claims for a penalty 50 mins : Substitution: Dirk Kuyt for Craig Bellamy: 52 mins : Oster wins a corner for Reading as the home side pile on the pressure buoyed by their equaliser 54 mins : Gonzalez fires in a good cross from the left but Crouch is beaten to the ball in the area. Good game now 58 mins : Hunt speeds through the middle but Mascherano catches him and makes a fine tackle 60 mins : Kuyt does well in the box to force a mistake from Hunt and win a corner 61 mins : Kuyt goes on a mazy run in the box but overruns the ball at the crucial moment 63 mins : Carragher heads the ball against his own goal frame from a well delivered cross. Let off for the Reds 64 mins : Kuyt squares the ball to Gerrard but he can’t quite get there to tap the ball home 65 mins : Substitution: Jermaine Pennant for Peter Crouch: 68 mins : First Booking: Momo Sissoko: 74 mins : Brilliant tackle from Hunt in the area denies Gerrard who seemed set to score from Kuyt’s pass 75 mins : First Booking: Marcus Hahnemann: Handling the ball outside the area 76 mins : Gerrard’s free kick to the far post is headed clear by Hunt under pressure from Pennant 79 mins : Substitution: John Arne Riise for Mark Gonzalez: 82 mins : Substitution: Leroy Lita for John Oster: 83 mins : Kuyt does well to get to the byline but his cross is poor and drifts behind 85 mins : GOAL! Dirk Kuyt: Pennant delivers a great cross which Kuyt heads home from close range 90 mins : Three extra minutes to be played 15:54 GMT : Match Over From LiverpoolFC.TV