"I have followed Dirk's career for a long time and he is a very consistent player and you could say the complete striker," said Benitez.
"He is a good worker, he scores goals, causes defenders a lot of problems and he can bring other players into the game. His understanding with Peter Crouch was really good.
"I was really pleased to get the three points and the second goal was very important for us because Reading caused us some problems with long throw-ins.
"I expected them to play with five defenders and it was difficult at times to find the space to play but once we got the second goal it settled us down more and we created more chances."
