Heart of Midlothian 0 Liverpool 1

By Chris Bascombe

Liverpool teenager Raheem Sterling began the month wondering at which Championship club he would spend the rest of this season. He is ending it having enjoyed a full debut in Europe and convinced manager Brendan Rodgers the best place for him is Anfield.

“I was going to send him on loan, but I won’t be now,” said Rodgers, after handing the 17 year-old his first start in the feisty Europa League play-off victory over Hearts. “I’ve spoken to him and told him he is staying here.”

It was easy to see why Rodgers changed his mind. The Irishman has been combing his way through a variety of European squad lists hunting for a top-class wide man, but the solution he craves may have emerged from Liverpool’s youth ranks.

Sterling, who joined from Queens Park Rangers in 2010, shone throughout, showing some of his more experienced colleagues the path to goal.

He was a constant threat on the left and could have been the creator of three first-half goals. The focal point of every Liverpool attack, particularly after a difficult opening when goalkeeper Pepe Reina was too busy for comfort, was to work possession to Sterling at every opportunity.

He could have been a goalscorer and creator. The closest he came to an assist was a perfectly weighted pass to Fabio Borini in first-half added time, but the Italian struck a post.

With Steven Gerrard and Luis Suárez on Merseyside, Rodgers brought the fringe to Edinburgh. Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Jay Spearing were urged to dispel speculation they will leave for the right price, but they were all overshadowed by their junior colleague.

Another notable absentee was confirmed before kick-off. Andy Carroll cried off for the second successive European away trip, this time with a tight hamstring. Suggestions he felt the pain intensify because of a fear he would be cup-tied should another Europa League qualifying club try to buy him would be mischief making.

Rodgers dismissed any idea of a conspiracy theory. “The hamstring was just a bit tight and the medical advice was it was a risk. I know he was desperate to play,” said Rodgers.

For a while, it looked like Liverpool would pay for their lack of strength in depth, but they grew more comfortable as the game progressed.

Rodgers suggested, before the game, if Liverpool replayed their trip to West Bromwich Albion 1,000 times, on 999 occasions it would be a different result. Hearts manager John McGlynn may have felt the same way as his side eventually succumbed in luckless fashion when Andrew Webster deflected Martin Kelly’s 77th-minute cross into his own net.

A goalless draw would have been a fairer outcome The tie is not over yet, but with the cavalry likely to return at Anfield, Hearts’ consolation was a vast improvement on their performance against Spurs at the same stage a year ago.

They had learned the lessons from that 5-0 defeat, although there was not anything particularly European about this tie. It had all the gusto you would expect of a typical Scotland-England encounter.

Arvydas Novikovas’s dipping, swerving effort from over 30 yards had Reina frantically scurrying early on, and John Sutton also tested the Liverpool keeper on 12 minutes, but aside from a late rally that was as threatening the hosts were.

After his tough initiation at the weekend, Rodgers needed this to restore morale ahead of Manchester City’s visit on Sunday.

“It was a good win for us. In the first half we showed some good moments and in the second we were better tactically and that led to the goal which was a well worked move,” he said. With Nuri Sahin recruited, Rodgers will now be hoping to accumulate enough class to make fixtures such as these less treacherous.

“We’re not good enough to be complacent,” he added, looking forward to the return leg. Not for the first time, a new incumbent has realised the vast gulf between what is in the Anfield brochure and the more demanding reality.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk