Reds hit Reading wall

Shot-stopper ... Alex McCarthy denies Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho. Source: Mike Egerton / AAP

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says he had no complaints after his side could only draw at Reading and holds Royals goalkeeper Alex McCarthy responsible for the stalemate.

The shot-stopper was the hero of the afternoon for the Royals as he pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the Reds at bay at the Madejski Stadium.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	31	25	2	4	38	77
2	Man City	31	19	8	4	30	65
3	Chelsea	31	17	7	7	28	58
4	Tottenham	32	17	7	8	15	58
5	Arsenal	31	16	8	7	27	56
6	Everton	31	13	13	5	12	52
7	Liverpool	32	13	10	9	19	49
8	West Brom	32	13	5	14	-1	44
9	Swansea	32	10	11	11	1	41
10	Fulham	31	10	9	12	-4	39
11	Southampton	32	9	10	13	-7	37
12	West Ham	31	10	7	14	-9	37
13	Newcastle	32	10	6	16	-14	36
14	Norwich	32	7	14	11	-19	35
15	Stoke	32	7	13	12	-11	34
16	Aston Villa	32	8	9	15	-24	33
17	Sunderland	32	7	10	15	-11	31
18	Wigan	31	8	7	16	-20	31
19	QPR	32	4	12	16	-23	24
20	Reading	32	5	8	19	-27	23

Rodgers' men saw chance after chance go begging, with Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho all coming close on more than one occasion.

"When the keeper has a day like that, sometimes there's not a great deal you can do."
Brendan Rodgers

But the Northern Irish manager feels his team could not have done any more and believes McCarthy was the only thing standing between them and a win.

"That's arguably the best goalkeeping performance I've ever seen, watching many games and being involved in many games," Rodgers told Sky Sports.

"Not just tipping it around the corner but actually holding onto the ball.

"I've no complaints other than we're disappointed that we didn't win. We couldn't have done any more. We created enough opportunities and clear opportunities but we couldn't find our way past the young man. They've given everything today.

"But the game will probably be summed up by the great goalkeeping performance of young Alex and when a keeper has a day like that sometimes there's not a great deal you can do. He's got all the attributes to be a top, top keeper."

Rodgers also paid tribute to his own goalkeeper, Pepe Reina, who did not have the busiest of afternoons but did well to deny Noel Hunt with a fingertip save in the second half.

He added: "We mustn't forget Pepe Reina, he made one crucial save for us. They broke away and he made an outstanding save."

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