Torres Hitting Heights As Season Gets Serious

The first Liverpool striker since Robbie Fowler in 1995-96 to register 20 league goals in a season could never hope to be inconspicuous. Fernando Torres, poster-boy features and developing icon status inflating his profile, retains an element of surprise for opponents though it is they who will define the club's season in the coming weeks.

Torres was not the stellar individual on display at Anfield as Rafael Benítez's side edged out Reading, that mantle belonging to Javier Mascherano despite the Spaniard nailing a vital victory for Liverpool. Yet
he reinforced the argument that this is a bad time to cross Liverpool's path and, against Manchester United, Everton, Arsenal, Arsenal and Arsenal, the coltish striker represents a new card for his manager to play in a sequence that could shape the fight for fourth place and will determine the Champions League semi-finalists.

There are few secrets in the modern game and Sir Alex Ferguson for one will not require instruction on the 23-year-old, having made several thwarted attempts to sign him from Atlético Madrid. His defenders, and those of Everton and Arsenal, are a different matter for none has encountered Torres on this form and, by extension, none has encountered this Liverpool this season.

"Against Manchester United we didn't really make the most of him, he didn't play against Everton and he came off injured at half-time against Arsenal. He hasn't really played against them," said Jamie Carragher. "I'm sure they all watch Match of the Day and see each week what damage he has been causing and they will be well aware of him but it's different in a game. He's on fire at the moment.

"He is the stand-out striker in European football right now and looks as if he has the lot. The header he scored against Reading you probably wouldn't expect off a pacey striker. But I was stood right behind him and it was some header. It has been a long time since Robbie Fowler got 20 league goals and for Fernando to be the first player since then to do it shows he is a special player."

Torres' ninth goal in six games was simple by recent standards, too simple from Reading's perspective as the Spain international ghosted away from André Bikey to head home Steven Gerrard's free-kick. The result was imperative for Benítez's side. Defeat at the Madejski Stadium disrupted Liverpool's momentum in December and two lost points here, a distinct possibility when Gerrard raised his arms to save Dave Kitson's shot in stoppage time, would have reduced the margin of error ahead. Like Gerrard and José Reina, who claimed Stephen Hunt's header at the second attempt in a pulsating finale, Liverpool survived and continue to prosper.

Steve Coppell's men enlivened this contest with an adventure not all visitors show at Anfield, ultimately losing out to Liverpool's superior quality and a performance from the match officials that enraged both teams. Ahead through Marek Matejovsky's exquisite shot from an intelligent free-kick by John Oster, Reading were dragged down to reality when Mascherano followed the example of the Czech midfielder and scored his first goal for his club with a thunderous burst from 20 yards.

Liverpool then dominated, Torres delivering a deserved lead, until the latter stages when the referee, Andre Marriner, added to Reading's frustration at the leniency shown Martin Skrtel by dismissing their penalty appeals. "We were never going to get that. The very subtle pressure that is applied by the big teams can intimidate officials," said Coppell.

His assistant, Kevin Dillon, went further. "I've never been so frustrated in all my time in football as a player or a coach," he said. "It made me sometimes wish I was not involved in the game, it was that bad."

Coppell's problems extended to Shane Long, reduced to a distracted wreck by Skrtel's grappling, throwing his shirt away when substituted. "I'm sorry, it was just frustration," said the former hurling player turned hurler. "I apologized to the gaffer and he just said 'That's not on Longy, I don't ever want to see that happening again.'"