It's no joke for Rodgers but Reds' fringe have last laugh

Dominic King

August is the month when Edinburgh is awash with comedians but nobody sported a bigger smile in this old city than Brendan Rodgers on Thursday night.

At the end of a torrid 90 minutes in which Liverpool had been pushed to the limit by a Hearts side who, according to their pitch announcer, had ‘done their country proud’, Rodgers spun on his heels, exchanged a firm handshake with his assistant, Colin Pascoe, then clenched his fist with delight.
MATCH FACTS

HEARTS (4-2-3-1): MacDonald 7; R McGowan
6, Zaliukas 8, Webster 7, Grainger 7; Barr 7
(Robinson 87min) Taouil 7; Paterson 6,
Templeton 7 (Driver 78) Novikovas 7 (Carrick
84); Sutton. Subs not used: Enckelman (GK),
Smith, D McGowan, McHattie.

Booked: Barr.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Reina 7: Kelly 7,
Carragher 7, Agger 7, Robinson 6
(Downing 61, 6): Shelvey 6, Spearing 6 (Allen
67, 7), Henderson 6: Sterling 8, Borini 5
(Morgan 90) Adam 7. Subs not used: Jones, Coates, Leiva, Flanagan.

Scorers: Webster (OG).

Man of the match: Sterling.

Referee: Meyer (Germany) 6.

Attendance: 15,965.

Emerging victorious, thanks to a late Andy Webster own goal, Liverpool will now in all probability advance to the group stages of the Europa League but if they are to go any further, the levels of quality in their games must dramatically improve.

‘We are not good enough to be complacent,’ said Rodgers in response to a question about whether Liverpool would be able to take things easy in the return leg at Anfield next week. ‘I was delighted with our commitment and it was a good win but Hearts were excellent. We respect our opponents.’

This was Liverpool’s first trip north of the border since they faced Celtic in 2003 but, without established stars such as Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and the hamstrung Andy Carroll, it became apparent from the first whistle that this would be anything but a formality.

Imbued with resilience, determination and courage, Hearts refused to be overawed by the heritage of their opponents and can be considered unfortunate not to have secured a draw. They may not have won in the SPL this season but that did not stop John McGlynn’s side being excellent. Roared on by a scarf-twirling, partisan crowd, they made the brighter start, gave the Liverpool goalkeeper a succession of anxious moments and, in the process, expunged the memory of the demolition job Tottenham did on them in this competition last season.

Though Liverpool had the first effort when Charlie Adam cracked a left-foot drive that Jamie MacDonald pawed wide, Hearts responded when Arvydas Novikovas forced Pepe Reina into a back-pedalling parry with a dipping drive.

Sensing there was an opportunity for them to grasp — unlike when Spurs visited 12 months ago and were two goals up within 13 minutes — Hearts raised the tempo and next to try his luck was captain Marius Zaliukas with a fizzing drive that sped just over the bar. With chairman Tom Werner having travelled from America to make a surprise appearance, Liverpool’s efforts made for uncomfortable viewing and it wasn’t long before Rodgers got off his seat, pen and a note paper in hand, and started whistling and barking out orders.

It didn’t make any discernible difference. Hearts continued to press and had two loud claims for penalties turned down.

But they should have found themselves trailing at the interval when Liverpool created the best chance of the game.

Raheem Sterling, the 17-year-old whose pace and energy had been by far the highlight of Liverpool’s performance, seized on a loose ball and showed excellent awareness and poise for one so young as he ushered in Fabio Borini on the edge of the area. Somehow, though, the Italian struck the post. If Borini was erratic, the same could not be said of the jet-heeled Sterling.

It was only a month ago that Rodgers said he wanted to send the youngster out on loan to accelerate his development but, such are the strides he has made in the time since, that idea has been scrapped.

‘I have spoken to Raheem and I have told him he won’t be going out on loan,’ said Rodgers.

The second half did, at least, see Liverpool exert more control. Hearts began with an initial flurry of pressure but there was a calmness about the way the defensive triumvirate of Reina, Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger — the wise old heads of the team — retained possession.

With the pacy Sterling as an option up front, there was always a chance that they would fashion something on the break and so it proved in the 77th minute when Martin Kelly ended up firing a cross into the six-yard area that cannoned into the unlucky Webster and into the net.

Little wonder, then, that Rodgers was so pleased at the final whistle and it turned out to be a good day all around for the manager, as Liverpool expect to wrap up the season long loan singing of Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin, subject to him passing a medical.

‘I thought we managed the game well,’ said Rodgers, who refused to comment about the Premier League investigation into claims from Fulham that they tapped up Clint Dempsey.

‘It was a good win but it was always going to be a tough game. Now we have to make sure we finish the second leg.’