Liverpool overcame a resilient Middlesbrough side on Tuesday evening in the Capital One Cup, as the Championship side twice came from behind to force a lengthy penalty shoot-out.
17-year-old Jordan Rossiter crowned his debut with a goal within 10 minutes, taking advantage of fellow senior debutant Jamal Blackman's error in the Boro goal. The ball fell to him 35-yards from goal and he stroked cool effort which ran straight underneath the on-loan Chelsea keeper's foot.
The Reds failed to create many chances to build upon their lead however, and despite relative dominance, they were made to pay for it just after the hour mark. When Mamadou Sakho handballed an incoming cross outside-of-the-box, Grant Leadbitter found Adam Reach in the air, and unmarked, he headed low past Simon Mignolet to send the following Boro supporters into raptures.
From then on, the Reds struggled to regain their lead, even with Raheem Sterling trying his best and Brendan Rodgers opting to use some of his substitutes in Mario Balotelli and Suso to add extra dimensions in the final third. For all their efforts, Boro took them into extra time - but with the away side tiring in the second half, the Reds launched an endless wave of attacks until one paid off in the 108th minute. Jose Enrique combined with Adam Lallana, who flicked the ball beautifully into the Spaniard's pass at the byline and though Balotelli couldn't get anything on the initial cross, the ball rebounded back to Suso who ran onto the ball and fired past Blackman to restore the lead.
With the game seeming all wrapped up and merely 30 seconds of extra time remaining, Raheem Sterling's loose backpass was picked up by Patrick Bamford, who shot forward and strived into the Liverpool box before being clattered into by Kolo Touré - gifting Aitor Karanka's men the perfect opportunity to force the game into a penalty shoot-out. Bamford stepped up and that's exactly what he did, sending Mignolet the wrong way.
Quite what was to follow in penalties, almost nobody would have expected. Bamford stepped up with Balotelli having already scored with the maiden spot-kick, but missed his second attempt from the spot - but with the chance to seal the result, Sterling missed and on-loan Belgian striker Jelle Vossen stepped up to take it to sudden death. Nineteen top-notch penalties followed, including heroic efforts from Mignolet and Blackman and Balotelli, Lucas, Lallana and Suso were all forced to go a second time - before Albert Adomah's effort flew wide of the post, and ended a mammoth shoot-out, with Liverpool winning 14-13 and going through to the Fourth Round.
1. The Reds are good at penalties.
Of their 15 spot-kicks, Liverpool only missed one. That includes the likes of Mamadou Sakho, Simon Mignolet, Kolo Touré and Javier Manquillo. They may not have been particularly defensively solid throughout the game, but at least Brendan Rodgers now knows he has a number of options when it comes to a shoot-out, particularly as they missed first-choice taker Steven Gerrard and Rickie Lambert, who is notoriously good at penalties. It wasn't just the fact that they scored, but the manner in which they did. All the penalty-takers oozed confidence, particularly Balotelli - who cracked a triumphant smile after his slotting away his second. Perhaps Mignolet wasn't so impressive in his penalty saving, stopping just one of Boro's 15, but should the Reds be relying on spot-kicks in any of the cup competitions any time soon, there's no reason to panic.
2. Raheem Sterling can't always save the day.
Despite being by far the best player on the pitch, one player who will be remembered more for his errors than his highlights was Raheem Sterling. The 19-year-old was his typical self further up the pitch, looking to beat his man at every time of asking and the opposing defence just couldn't live with his threat and pace. Even still, the Reds struggled to make much of a difference in the final third and creativity, even with Lallana's best performance in a Liverpool shirt yet, was fairly low. On a day where he was linked with Real Madrid, it was perhaps his untimely error that will be remembered of Sterling's game, and though that may be unfair - it was an amateuristic mistake to make. In fact, even if the pass is replayed 10x, it's difficult to see where they English youngster intended it to go, but it is by no means a cloud over his head and neither is his missed penalty. He will have been disappointed understandably, but in comparison to everything good Sterling has done since establishing himself, this is perhaps his only actual error and you can bet he'll learn from it and become a better player as a result.
3. Set-piece defending is something that needs work.
Yet again, the Reds looked shaky from set-pieces. Not only did they fail to be prolific from their offensive efforts, but defensively they looked lightweight, even against Boro. Though the Championship side struggled to impact on open play too often, their corners and costless-kicks, excellently crossed in by skipper Leadbitter, constantly caused trouble. Even with the experienced Touré and the commanding aerial presence of Sakho, time and time again, Karanka's side were first to the ball and ultimately, it was how they got back into the game. Leadbitter's delivery was admittedly very good to find Reach, but the man-marking was simply abysmal. As little as four yards from goal, the Boro man found unopposed and his header was a simple one. It's becoming a chronic problem, at both ends - and it needs fixing. Last season, a corner or costless-kick posed major problems to the defence - hence Gerrard's 13 assists from various set-pieces, but now it's more of an opportunity for opposing teams to counter, and at the back - Liverpool are defending a set-piece so badly, it's almost inevitable that whomever they are facing will force Mignolet into action, be it picking the ball out of his net or making a sharp save.
4. Adam Lallana will get better with time.
One of they high-key signings of the summer, Lallana, has so far struggled to make much of an impression at Anfield. After a sensational season at the Saints, he's perhaps struggled to adapt with moving away from Southampton and has been far from the creative key that unlocked defences regularly throughout 2013-14. Against Boro however, Lallana began to look much closer to the player that Rodgers paid £20 million to acquire. He was perhaps the Reds' best performer, tracking back to break up a number of opposition attacks and heavily influencing the few moves that Liverpool themselves knitted together. His neat flicks and tricks weren't only easy on the eye, but they were also productive - for example, his wonderful backheel flick into Jose Enrique for Liverpool's 2nd goal. He had some fantastic touches and though he got caught on the ball a few times, he showed more of the flamboyance and flair that the Reds paid for, and he did so confidently as well. Far from last season's form, but he's getting progressively better with each passing game.
5. Jordan Rossiter has superb potential.
Perhaps the most notable thing we learned from the game, was the impression Jordan Rossiter made. Alongside Lucas in a two-man midfield, Rossiter put in a performance well beyond his tender age and showed to everyone just why he's so highly-rated in the club's youth set-up. On his first ever professional appearance for the club, he could have been forgiven for his nerves getting the better of him - instead he appeared the most composed and mature of Liverpool's entire starting side. Early into the game, it was almost jawdropping (in a good way) how confident he was in instructing his teammate Lucas what to do, just as captain Steven Gerrard, who he has drawn comparisons to, would. Defensively, he was very good and he even capped his debut off with a fantastic strike from distance. He may just be 17-years-old, but he's already earned a step-up to training with the senior squad and he has the potential to be a phenomenal player for the club should his potential be rightly harnessed.