Heart of Midlothian 0 Liverpool 1: as it happened

HEARTS 0 - 1 LIVERPOOL

WRAP: Liverpool take a narrow one goal advantage back to Anfield for the return leg after an entertaining upbeat match at Tynecastle. Hearts performed with admiration throughout, giving their all and really rose to the occasion. But with all their effort, they lacked the final panache to hurt last season's Carling Cup finalists. Andy Webster's own goal separated the sides but Liverpool had the best of the chances and new signing Fabio Borini missed a glaring opportunity on the stroke of half-time. The Edinburgh club hit back and launched a final assault on Pepe Reina's Liverpool goal but could not find the net. Callum Paterson drilled an effort which looked destined for the far corner only for Pepe Reina to get down well and parry it around the far post. The tie is set up nicely for a tasty return leg.

21.50 Brendan Rodgers has also been talking after the match: "First and foremost it's a win. Coming to this place where the crowd are up for it. I thought we did well, in the first half we had problems with positioning but in the second half we managed the ball better and controlled the midfield. It was a real good game."

21.45 Jamie Carragher has paid tribute to Raheem Sterling's performance on the left wing. He said: "This club has got a great tradition of bringing players through. The manager wants to play with widemen and that suits him. He's come in and done really well."

21.43 You have to feel for Andy Webster. The ball from Martin Kelly really was a defenders' nightmare and he could do nothing facing his own goal. His legs got in a tangle and he got flummoxed when Fabio Borini missed the ball.

21.40 Damian Durrant thinks Brendan Rodgers could be pushing his team too far too soon with the tica-taca:

E-mail I fear Rogers may be "doing an AVB" trying to take the team too far and too fast with his fancy clipboard, and up against a raft of dug in "royalty". We shall see.

21:35 An entertaining 1-0 win for Liverpool. Hearts gave it everything at home but they just didn't have enough to beat their English opponents. The crowd at Tynecastle played their own part too, each one of them making the vocal support amounting to two people and roaring their team to lift their legs again after going behind. If something, it was a real advertisement for the Europa League.

FULL TIME HEARTS 0 - 1 LIVERPOOL

93 min: Jonjo Shelvey gives the ball away and it's to Paterson again. He strikes from 30 yards out but the swerve on the ball takes it wide of the right hand post.

91 min: Three minutes of stoppage time. Young Adam Morgan replaces Fabio Borini for Liverpool. Borini hasn't really impressed tonight but he could have had a couple of goals when he hit the post and then missed a sitter before Webster did his job for him.

90 min: And another chance for Hearts as Paterson fires in from the edge of the area. His rasping drive is palmed away by Pepe Reina. It's a really good strike and perhaps deserved to go in.

88 min: Hearts have their best chance of the match and it falls to replacement Andrew Driver. He's found in the box but cannot get a good connection on his shot and it trickles tamely through for a diving Pepe Reina to claim. The official attendance is 15,965 and it feels like 50,000.

86 min: News from Motherwell's play-off with Levante is also not too good for Scottish football. They are losing 2-0 and have just had Shaun Hutchinson sent off.

84 min: It does feel rather strange having a goal-keeper as involved as Pepe Reina is. He's causing himself all sorts of problems. Raheem Sterling continues to cause problems as he cuts inside but his weak shot is comfortably stopped by MacDonald.

82 min: Liverpool have started knocking the ball around with a little more confidence. Whether the steam has just been knocked out of the Scots I'm not too sure. They have managed to get a bit of control. Hearts bring on 18-year-old striker Dale Carrick for Novikovas. It's only his second ever appearance.

80 min: How can Hearts get over that? They've worked so hard to keep it at 0-0 and that was a bit of a sucker-punch.

76 min: GOAL! Hearts 0 - 1 Liverpool (Webster OG)

Liverpool make the breakthrough and it's cruel on Webster as he tries to miss a Martin Kelly cross but his momentum takes his legs further than he thinks and he can do nothing about it. Fabio Borini was just in front of him, but couldn't do the finishing leaving the ball to rebound past a despairing MacDonald. Hearts respond by bringing Andrew Driver on for Templeton.

74 min: Hearts's fans chanting "dodgy keeper" at Pepe Reina after the Spaniard dallies on the ball unsure of whether to pass it or kick it long.

72 min: Downing whips in a ball from the left but it takes a heavy deflection and into the arms of MacDonald. Charlie Adam looks to have a problem, and it's not just that his shooting is off the mark.

69 min: Charlie Adam with his shot number... I've lost count. It's deflected and straight through to MacDonald. The enthusiasm of the crowd at Tynecastle has been fantastic but it's in the closing minutes of the match it will count most as legs start to tire.

68 min: Joe Allen replaces Jay Spearing in the Liverpool midfield. Pretty much like for like. Titch for titch. A European debut for the Welsh star.

66 min: MacDonald does well again as he comes to claim a Jonjo Shelvey through ball, plucking the ball of the head of Fabio Borini.

65 min: Fabio Borini takes a knee to the back from Andy Webster. Don't worry, by knee to the back I don't mean John Terry style. An innocent mid-air clash.

63 min: It appears the England man has gone as a straight replacement and will fit in at left-back. I'm not sure if he has ever played there? But with the form of Templeton tonight, he could be in for a rough first ride in the position.

61 min: Stewart Downing is readying on the touchline. Surely it's not Raheem Sterling to make way. No it's Jack Robinson instead. Left-winger for left back. Hearts are really on top of this game at the moment. John McGlynn has got his lads really fired up for this. And it's superb to watch their effort too.

58 min: Former Rangers player Charlie Adam, who has taken a berating from the fans throughout, breaks free in the middle and unleashes another shop from 30 yards. His whipped effort slides wide. Hearts respond with Novikovas who tries an exact replica and it spirals over the bar.

56 min: 17-year-old Callum Paterson does well down the Liverpool right and takes a strike from a very tight angle. It misses the near post but he's certainly showing promise too. It's been the match of the teenagers so far.

54 min: Sterling looks to latch onto a through ball but MacDonald again does well to speed off his line and snaffle the ball at his feet. The supporters behind the goal think the forward has left his foot into the challenge, whereas Sterling thinks he's been shoved.

Clive Young answers how long he thinks it will take for tica-taca to work:

E-mail Once they work out a formation that can accommodate the 18 midfielders on their squad. 1- 10 -1 is looking the best option at the mo'.

52 min: Sterling again with pace and trickery against Ryan McGowan and somehow earns his team a corner, another one which could've been given the other way. The delivery by Shelvey is dealt with well by MacDonald.

50 min: The crowd are starting to turn on the referee and his linesman after they fail to give Hearts a throw-in. The work-rate of the Hearts players is first rate at the moment. Sprint after sprint after sprint. Surely tiring though?

47 min: More of the same at the start of the second half. Hearts playing with their hearts on their sleeves pressurising every movement of a Liverpool player. Certainly a free-kick should've been awarded to the impressive Templeton down the right hand side as he is bundled over by Jack Robinson, nothing giving though from the ref.

20.45 We are underway in the second half. Hearts take the kick-off to a roar from their supporters.

20.40 It should be said, Hearts have been superb so far. They really have. They've stuck to their gameplan and really pressurised their English rivals.

20.37 One thing that has certainly been evident has been the shakiness of the Liverpool defence. They feel uncomfortable in what they are being asked to do at the moment by Brendan Rodgers, especially when put under the immense pressure they have been. Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger really need to buck their ideas up back there. The stand-out player off the half has certainly been Raheem Sterling. He's really attacked the full-back with pace and looked to hit the byline as much as possible. A prospect indeed.

20.34 It appears the famous LIverpool woodwork bug is back. There must be something rather infectious about the bug, with the team hitting the woodwork over 20 times last season, as it hasn't taken long for Fabio Borini to have caught a good dose of it. By far the best chance of the half. It's certainly been entertaining, albeit with a lack of quality in the right places. Lots of passion from the Hearts players but can they keep it up for 90 minutes?

HALF TIME - HEARTS 0 - 0 LIVERPOOL

45 min: Off the post! Raheem Sterling steels the ball in the Scottish team's half and finds himself with just one defender ahead of him. He lays off Fabio Borini to surely open the scoring, but his placed effort canonns straight back off the post with the goalkeeper having no chance. That would've been the perfect end to the half for the Merseyside club. Instead, it remains 0-0.

43 min: Corner to Liverpool as Borini gets away on the right wing. Charlie Adam's delivery comes out to Sterling. Adam then finds himself in the unfamiliar position of on the right wing and wiggles past a player into the area. His cross shot is blocked however and he makes his way back to the corner flag.

42 min: Huge shouts for a penalty again from the home fans as it looks from the naked eye that the ball strikes Jamie Carragher plum on the arm. But the referee waves it away. And rightly so, it came square of his back. Maybe I need to visit an optician...

40 min: The first glaring error of the day from the officials is made as Fabio Borini is flagged offside with the ball coming off a Hearts player. The Liverpool fans have found their voices. But they are abruptly forced into panic as Templeton hits a volley, but it goes way over the bar.

38 min: David Nemeth clearly isn't the biggest fan of Jordan Henderson:

E-mail Obviously, with Jordan Henderson starting, Liverpool aren't taking this tournament seriously.

36 min: It feels like both teams are playing on fast-forward at the moment. Like on a computer game which has been ramped up for maximum goals. But in doing so, they both have lacked the quality to actually break the other team down. The 100mph gameplan of Hearts appears to be working.

34 min: Just as I say that, Borini is found in the box by Jordan Henderson but his attempted volley fails to make any contact with the ball and it makes him look pretty silly. The old air-shot. The £10 million air-shot.

32 min: Shelvey and Henderson have a decent interchange in the midfield before it opens up for the former. He tries to find Fabio Borini, who has been at large anonymous so far, but he's shepharded out wide and the ball goes for a corner. It's not quite happening for either team yet.

30 min: Hearts force another corner as Patterson again poses some problems down the right wing. Templeton drives it in but it's straight at Shelvey. All he can do is plump the ball back to Templeton to have another go, but he falls into Borini and it's another excitable cheer from the crowd. No penalty again, mainly because it was outside the box. There is also the reason, it wasn't a foul.

28 min: Raheem Sterling has certainly been a bundle of energy down the left hand side for Liverpool and everytime he gets the ball his first thought is to hit the touchline. He looks a proper winger. Stunning pace but has he got the final ball. Not quite, his crisp shot is beaten away by MacDonald.

26 min: Big shout from the Hearts crowd for a penalty but there is nothing given. Martin Kelly just gets back in time and gets the ball. Just is the correct word.

25 min: Liverpool's best chance of the game so far, and it comes off the boot of their opponents. Webster slides in to make a tackle and sends the ball inches from MacDonald's nearpost.

24 min: First yellow card of the game, and impressive sprinting skills from the ref to get to the scene as fast as possible. He's clearly enjoyed the Olympics. Danny Barr is the recipient after hauling down the surging run of Charlie Adam.

23 min: Sterling gets free on the left hand side thanks to great vision from Spearing. He cuts inside onto his right foot but sees his shot blocked. Liverpool's third midfielder beginning with S, Shelvey fires in a terrible shot which acts better as a through ball to the offside Sterling.

21 Min: Ball of the day from Daniel Agger as he finds Jordan Henderson from one flank to another. It comes to nothing though as Henderson's headed control is pounced on. How long can Hearts keep up this workrate?

20 Min: Liverpool haven't had much of the possesion so far. In fact, if my own mathematics are anything to go by, I reckon they have had about 40per cent of it. A far cry down on the 60per cent they had against West Brom. As soon as the ball is passed into the midfield they men in white are over the Liverpool players like a rash.

16 Min: Sutton is really putting himself about up front and forces another corner for his team. It's taken to the edge fo the area but the shot is blocked by Daniel Agger. Templeton then tricks his way through the Liverpool defence and fires a shot wide. The home side are well and truly on top at the moment. Some news from Greece, Newcastle have drawn 1-1 against Atromitos

14 Min: Liverpool are trying to take the sting out of the game now. But their opponents have a real bite about them and the six seconds get the ball back philosophy certainly looks like it's the philosophy of the Scots and not Brendan Rodgers's side at the moment. Every second ball is being won by the home side.

10 Min: Ooooff painful. It's not one of the players, but a photographer on the side line. Hearts attack down the right and force a corner as Raheem Sterling wobbles over into the snapper. He's aided by a couple of policemen, albeit slowly. From the resultant corner the ball is pinged from distance and Pepe Reina is forced to into a save, spilling the ball for a corner. Tynecastle is rocking at the moment.

8 Min: Charlie Adam launches a shot from 25 yards which is saved well by MacDonald. A real daisy cutter that one.

7 Min: First moment of panic for the Liverpool defence. And a worry against the Brendan Rodgers system. Jamie Carragher plays the ball back to his keeper, Pepe Reina but it doesn't have many legs on it and his goalkeeper is forced to race out under pressure from Sutton. A hairy moment for the Spaniard but he deals with it with the composure of international teammate Xavi.

E-mail Jody Jeffrey emails in: Trick question? The EL is only three years old and fulham were gallant runners up in year 1. From 1984 - 2009 we only had one winner of the uefa cup so perhaps a general apathy toward the ugly sister trophies?

5 Min: Jonjo Shelvey brings the first foul of the game with a lunge through the back of his midfield rival. Hearts have started in possession with the tica-taca so far seen a long ball and Daniel Agger smashing a ball against John Sutton for a goal kick. Nothing much going on in the first five minutes.

1 Min: Raheem Sterling gets his first sprint down the left of the game but is blocked. It's followed by Charlie Adam crossing the ball over the box, a familiar sight for the away fans.

19.44 Liverpool to kick off. And we are underway. Liverpool in their alternate black kit, Hearts in white, their away kit too. The referee is in yellow. Why are Hearts in their away kit I hear you ask, because all Liverpool's kits clashed with their home kit.

19.41 The players emerge from the tunnel. And both sets of supporters are in full voice. I have to say, I have always had a soft spot for the Hearts song. So brilliant, it's name is The Hearts Song, original eh?

19.37 It's quite a defensive line-up for Hearts. They are going to start 4-5-1 with anchor man Ryan McGowan given the role in the midfield of containing the flowing tica-taca Brendan Rodgers is hoping from his team.

19.25 It may have been over 11 years ago now, but it's well worth another look. Liverpool v Alaves. The greatest Uefa Cup final, it will always be the UEFA Cup to me, in the history of the competition.

19.22 Newcastle are still being held 1-1 in Greece against Atromitos. They have made nine changes to their starting line-up for this tie and it's telling on their game play. Poor in attack, but a threat from set pieces.

19.19 For those wondering where Liverpool's new signing Oussama Assaidi is, he's not allowed to play in either of the legs as he played for his previous club, Heerenveen in the qualifying first round. However, should Liverpool reach the group stages, he would be allowed to take part. Strange rule from UEFA that.

19.16 Rodgers had given us an indication young Raheem Stirling would start tonight. He's been full of praise for the teenager in the build up to the match. "For a kid who is 17 years of age, he has been very good. Something I want to do over the years here is get young players with talent and personality into the group and into the team. He is certainly one who has shown up well."

19.14 So, Brendan Rodgers has favoured youth for the trip to Scotland with Jonjo Shelvey, Jack Robinson and Raheem Sterling all being given the nod. The Reds will line up in the manager's preferred formation and new signing Fabio Borini will start up top on his own. But there is no place in the squad for Andy Carroll. Cue mad reports the big man will be leaving the club before the transfer window slams shut. He's been left out for a precaution as he is suffering from a slight hamstring problem. Is it a cover up? Stranger things in football have happened.

For Hearts, winger David Templeton comes back into the team after his suspension in the SPL and goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald is playing despite the the birth of his first child yesterday.

19.07 The teams have both been submitted and here they are:

Hearts: MacDonald, Ryan McGowan, Webster, Zaliukas, Grainger, Paterson, Barr, Taouil, Novikovas, Templeton, Sutton.

Subs: Enckelman, Robinson, Driver, Gordon Smith, Dylan McGowan, McHattie, Carrick.

Liverpool: Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Agger, Robinson, Henderson, Adam, Spearing, Shelvey, Borini, Sterling.

Subs: Jones, Coates, Downing, Lucas, Allen, Flanagan, Morgan.

Referee: Florian Meyer (Germany)

19.04 We are also coming to an end of silly season in the Premier League and despite the overall spending being down this year, it's already been pretty busy. If previous season's are to go by, managers have done their shrew purchasing and it's now time for panic buying and inflated prices aplenty. Liverpool could be in hot water after tyoday, Fulham have lodged a formal complaint against them for an illegal approach for Clint Dempsey. Could the American be joining Liverpool by the end of next week? It's certainly a possibility. But do Liverpool need a Dempsey style player? Get in touch with your thoughts.

19.00 Newcastle kicked off against Atromitos at 6.00pm and both teams are currently ejoying their half-time refreshments locked at one goal apiece. Atromitos took the lead after 34 minutes through Denis Epstein but Newcastle hit back on the stroke of half time with a superb free-kick by Ryan Taylor.

18.55 Don’t deny you have not missed your weekly dose of Thursday night Europa League football. It’s not like you’ve had anything else to watch over the last few months which could have filled the void. Well, it’s time to get your giddy excitement back to the boiling point. It’s England vs Scotland. The battle of the British Isles. Hearts vs Liverpool.

The prize for the winner? Taking an advantage to Anfield for the second leg. The prize for the winner at Anfield? A place in the group stages of the second biggest club competition in Europe.

Liverpool have already passed their first Europa League test of the season as they eased to a 4-0 aggregate victory of Gomel but, having left Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez, Glen Johnson and Martin Skrtel at home, it appears youth is the policy for the night ahead.

For Hearts, a place in the Europa League group stages would be one step further than they achieved last season when they were defeated handsomely by Tottenham Hotspur at the same stage, losing 5-0 at home.

The two clubs don’t exactly have a rich rivalry from their history. In fact you have to go back to 1929 for the last time the pair met. Liverpool last made the trek up north to face the Maroons at Tynecastle in 1899. And having dusted down the match reports from the archives, it appears it was quite a thriller that day. A 3-2 victory for the Scots. So you could say, they are coming into the game with some good form.

Newcastle and Motherwell are also in action tonight against Atromitos and Levante respectively and I will make sure you are kept up to date with the scores on the doors throughout the matches across Europe to the best of my ability.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk