Skipper Gerrard's cross-shot earned the Reds a
third-round replay after Simon Church punished their nervy
first-half hour.
And, judging by the way manager-less Reading belied
their Championship struggles, Benitez faces an anxious 90 minutes
in the Anfield re-match.
Royals' man-of-the-match Jobi McAnuff said: "Before the
game we would have probably taken the draw and the chance to go
there and get a result.
"It's a great place to play football, we'll really
enjoy it and hopefully get another chance to go and express
ourselves and get a result again."
Liverpool's season has seen them knocked out of the
Champions League and also struggle to keep pace with others teams
in the hunt for a top-four place in the Premier League, so the cup
has been seen as one of their only genuine chances of
success.
With that in mind, Benitez picked a strong team,
including Gerrard and Torres.
But they started poorly, not helped by the tricky
conditions at Reading's ground, a venue that also hosts rugby games
for London Irish.
The hosts had the ball in the net when Jobi McAnuff met
Pepe Reina's punch but the header was correctly ruled out as
Grzegorz Rasiak was offside and also impeded the Liverpool
goalkeeper to allow the finish to trickle over the line.
Referee Martin Atkinson rejected Reading appeals for a
penalty when Martin Skrtel tugged slightly on Gylfi Sigurdsson's
shirt as he turned in the corner of the area.
But Emiliano Insua finally went in the book when he
fouled McAnuff on the right flank - a foul that proved
costly.
Ryan Bertrand swung over the deep free-kick to the far
post, with most Liverpool players expecting the ball to drift out
of play. They failed to consider Rasiak darting around Lucas Leiva
and volleying the ball back from the left byline. Church could
scarcely miss at the near post - and, via a shin, he did
not.
Liverpool looked to Torres to get them back in the
game, the Spain striker heading just wide when Dirk Kuyt crossed
from the right channel.
It was their other talisman, Gerrard, who grabbed the
equaliser. The midfielder picked the ball up 25 yards from goal and
shaped to cross, with Kuyt stepping over the delivery to fool
Federici.
Reading's disgruntled fans spotted their former manager
on his duties as a pundit and chanted "we want our Coppell back",
as they hope for a return to the days of success.
The club have been in freefall since relegation from
the top flight two seasons ago and the likes of Kevin Doyle and
Stephen Hunt have been sold - but at least the current players were
not giving up. Sigurdsson unleashed a swerving shot that required a
decent Reina save.
Reading: Federici (Hamer 69),
Gunnarsson, Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, McAnuff, Cisse (Howard
74), Karacan, Sigurdsson, Church, Rasiak (Long 77). Subs
Not Used: Tabb, Kebe, Robson-Kanu, Pearce.
Booked: Mills.
Goals: Church 24.
Liverpool: Reina, Darby, Skrtel,
Carragher, Insua, Kuyt, Lucas, Gerrard, Aurelio (Benayoun 79),
Torres, Ngog (Aquilani 68). Subs Not Used:
Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Babel, Spearing, Degen.
Booked: Insua.
Goals: Gerrard 36.
Att: 23,656
Ref: Martin Atkinson (W
Yorkshire).