Source: Daily_Mail
Liverpool 1 Reading 2: Long goodbye - Shane's winner has Rafa reeling
Rafa Benitez saw Liverpool's shambolic season lurch to a new low as rank outsiders Reading bundled them out of the FA Cup at Anfield and left them with only the minor bauble of the Europa League to play for.[LNB]And the small matter of their manager's future.[LNB]Anfield's hierarchy have remained steadfast in their support for Benitez throughout their recent failings and insisted all along he will not be sacked.[LNB][LNB]Stunner: Substitute Shane Long nods in Reading's winner [LNB][LNB] [LNB]FIVE CUP CALAMITIES Worcester City 2 Liverpool 1(FA Cup third round, January 15, 1959)Liverpoolwere in the second division, but this defeat by a Southern League clubwas still a stunner. Worcester took the lead through Tommy Skuse beforean own goal doubled their advantage. A Liverpool penalty came too late.[LNB]Liverpool 0 Wimbledon 1(FA Cup Final, May 14, 1988)Oneof the great FA Cup upsets. Dennis Wise's free kick was nodded in bymidfielder Lawrie Sanchez, then keeper Dave Beasant saved JohnAldridge's penalty on the hour.[LNB]Liverpool 0 Bristol City 1(FA Cup third round replay, January 25, 1994)After a 1-1 draw at Ashton Gate, BrianTinnion won the rematch.[LNB]Burnley 1 Liverpool 0(FA Cup third round, January 18, 2005)Left-back Djimi Traore's comical own goal decided Rafa Benitez's first FA Cup match as Liverpool boss.[LNB]Liverpool 1 Barnsley 2[LNB](FA Cup fifth round, February 16, 2008)[LNB]Barnsley's Brian Howard scored a dramatic, injury-time winner. Dirk Kuyt put Liverpool ahead but Stephen Foster levelled.[LNB]Many more embarrassments like this, though, and the Spaniard willsurely risk losing support among the Anfield crowd, and with it his job.[LNB]The 'Rafa, Rafael' chants were conspicuous by their absence in this third-round replay, and when it finished, and Reading celebrated Shane Long's extra-time winner, the Liverpool players made their way off to a chorus of boos from a 31,000 crowd.[LNB]Bookmakers slashed the odds on Benitez being the next Barclays Premier League managerial casualty from 6-1 to 7-2. [LNB]They would have based their calculations on Reading's first FA Cup away win against top-division opponents since January 1902. But there was more to it than that.[LNB]The manner of Liverpool's surrender was just as alarming. Not only did they have to rely on an own goal for an undeserved lead in first-half injury time, they sat back and invited a comeback that reached its peak as an additional three minutes ticked away at the end of normal time.[LNB]Referee Phil Dowd spotted a trip by Yossi Benayoun on substitute Long and unhesitatingly pointed to the spot. [LNB]If tension soared, no-one would have known from the way Gylfi Sigurdsson calmly stepped up to confront Diego Cavalieri.[LNB][LNB] [LNB] [LNB] [LNB] [LNB] [LNB] [LNB] [LNB] Advantage Liverpool: Steven Gerrard sees his shot deflect off Ryan Bertrand [LNB][LNB] HAVE YOUR SAY... Can Liverpool's season get any worse? Out of the Champions League. Out of the Barclays Premier League title race. And now out of the FA Cup at the hands of Championship strugglers Reading. Is it time for Rafa Benitez to go? Or are the owners to blame for the current malaise? What needs to change at Anfield? TELL US WHAT YOU THINK The ice-cool midfielder, who briefly thought his night was over whenhis number was mistakenly held aloft to make way for Long in the 81stminute, even had the self-assurance to stop for a second mid-stridebefore sending Cavalieri the wrong way.[LNB]Given the gulf in status between the sides, it should have beenmerely a temporary respite for the Championship outsiders, but BrianMcDermott had other ideas as he gathered his players and delivered anaddress that suggested the caretaker tag could soon be removed from histitle.[LNB]'I honestly believed we would go on to win, and that was the messageI spelled out,' he said. 'I told them that this was no night forhonourable defeat. It was a night for making a name for themselves, andthat's just what they did.'[LNB]Liverpool had their moments in extra time, not least when Benayoun beat the offside trap and drew Adam Federici, an Anfield transfer target, before sending his shot crashing wastefully against the keeper's knees in the 105th minute.[LNB] Can't look: Liverpool sub Ngog can't believe what he's seeing[LNB][LNB]The ice-cool midfielder, who briefly thought his night was over whenhis number was mistakenly held aloft to make way for Long in the 81stminute, even had the self-assurance to stop for a second mid-stridebefore sending Cavalieri the wrong way.[LNB]Given the gulf in status between the sides, it should have beenmerely a temporary respite for the Championship outsiders, but BrianMcDermott had other ideas as he gathered his players and delivered anaddress that suggested the caretaker tag could soon be removed from histitle.[LNB]'I honestly believed we would go on to win, and that was the messageI spelled out,' he said. 'I told them that this was no night forhonourable defeat. It was a night for making a name for themselves, andthat's just what they did.'[LNB] Feeling down: Kuyt looks dejected after Insua miss[LNB][LNB]If Liverpool felt they could have done without the inconvenience of anadditional 30 minutes, they could hardly protest after frequently beingshown up in the previous 90.[LNB]While Reading's goal had scarcely been troubled throughout the firsthalf, Liverpool's had led a charmed existence as the visitors twicespurned the clearest of chances to intensify the unease grippingAnfield.[LNB]Grzegorz Rasiak's miss was particularly glaring, as he tamely lifteda shot over from six yards, while the lively Simon Church was within ahair's breadth of connecting with a flying header in front of goal.[LNB] [LNB] [LNB] [LNB] Under pressure: Out of the Champions League, out of the Cups and outside the top four, Rafa Benitez has endured a disastrous season[LNB][LNB]After surviving the opening 45 minutes with ease, Reading weresuddenly undone in the 60 seconds of added time as, in keeping with theway fortune favoured Liverpool in the first meeting at the MadejskiStadium, the deadlock was broken by the most lucky of own goals.[LNB]Lucky from Liverpool's point of view, anyway, as they were given ahelping hand by young left back Ryan Bertrand, who stretched to cut outa cross-shot from Steven Gerrard but succeeded only in diverting itpast the wrong-footed Federici.[LNB]Reading should have equalised when McAnuff burst through from inside his own half, beating three defenders on the way and committing Cavalieri with a deft feint. But instead of scoring what might have been the goal of the season, the winger side-footed inches wide.[LNB][LNB] [LNB] [LNB] The new boy: Maxi Rodriguez was unveiled before kick off[LNB][LNB]Newly-appointed Burnley manager Brian Laws evidently felt he hadseen enough to start planning for a fourth-round return trip to Anfieldand was heading for exit by the time Reading forced extra time indramatic style.[LNB]Benayoun clipped the back of substitute Long's boot just inside the area and looked aghast at referee Dowd as, with barely 90 seconds of the additional three minutes remaining, the referee pointed to the spot. [LNB]With so much at stake, Sigurdsson calmly sauntered forward to send Cavalieri the wrong way and Long's winner left Benitez's hold on power hanging by a thread.[LNB] Rafa rocked: Reading's dramatic win puts Liverpool boss Benitez on brinkSurely manager Rafa Benitez must now goLiverpool chief reveals: We will never sell star pair Torres and GerrardLiverpool will get the best out of Maxi Rodriguez, says Rafa BenitezLIVERPOOL FC
