Fernando Torres scored his first Liverpool hat-trick in a 4–2 League Cup win at Reading on 25 September 2007. All three goals came in the second half, after Yossi Benayoun had opened his own account for the club and Reading had twice recovered from a goal behind.
Rafael Benítez started Torres alongside Peter Crouch at the Madejski Stadium. There were opportunities elsewhere in the side too: Charles Itandje made his Liverpool debut in goal, with Lucas Leiva and Sebastian Leto also starting. Steven Gerrard and John Arne Riise were among the substitutes.
Benayoun put Liverpool ahead after 23 minutes. Collecting a loose ball, he took it through André Bikey’s legs and shot beyond Adam Federici. It was an individual opening to a match in which Liverpool would need more than one lead to get through.
Bobby Convey equalised five minutes later. Liverpool had cleared Nicky Shorey’s corner, but Convey met the ball outside the area and drove it into the far corner. The teams went in level at half-time.
Torres restored Liverpool’s advantage in the 50th minute, running on to Leto’s pass and finishing past Federici. Reading answered again in the 64th minute, John Halls scoring after another Shorey corner had caused difficulty in the visitors’ penalty area.
Benítez’s substitutes helped Liverpool establish the lead that finally lasted. Riise worked his way down the left and pulled the ball back for Torres to score his second. Reading had made it 1–1 and 2–2; this time they could not produce another equaliser.
Gerrard then supplied the pass for the goal that completed the hat-trick in the 86th minute. Torres went through, took the ball around Federici and finished into the unguarded net. Liverpool led by two goals for the first time.
The match also brought a late senior debut for Jack Hobbs, who replaced Lucas. Liverpool advanced to the fourth round without extra time, despite conceding twice from the aftermath of corners. Benayoun had provided the first goal, but Torres supplied all three after the interval, turning an evenly scored first half into his first three-goal performance for the club.