After two consecutive defeats in the league, round three of the Capital One Cup offered an opportunity to gain some much needed confidence hosting Championship side Middlesborough. Yet, Liverpool seem completely incapable of making easy work of any fixtures of late and it would take well over 120 minutes to gain an extremely hard earned victory after a never ending round of penalties (14-13).Liverpool started with the kind of vigor that has been missing in recent matches. From the opening kick, they moved the ball directly and positively with a series of quick touches to advance and win an early corner. It was an encouraging start, despite Middlesborough’s recovering and then spending quite a bit of undistinguished time in the Reds end.
Five minutes in the match, Javier Manquillo whipped an early cross into the penalty area just behind Adam Lallana, who let it slip past him and into an empty void in the middle of the box. It was an early sequence that would prove premonitory for much of the evening.
In the early going, Liverpool started to find their rhythm with a high tempo and movement, passing the ball around the team and giving nearly everyone on the pitch some early touches. Mammadou Sakho looked to be the vocal leader at the back, leading the back line with Manquillo, Kolo Toure, and Jose Enrique.
Then in the 10 minute, Lucas overhit a long, aerial pass in the area of Sterling, who gave chase and pressured the defender, causing some panic. The ball would fall to an onrushing Ricky Lambert, at the top of the penalty area, on the right. Lambert took a quick shot that was blocked by Backman,the charging Middlesborough keeper. The ball ricocheted out about 30 yards from goal, where new boy Jordan Rossiter pounced and placed a low, hard drive into the far side of the net from distance.
Raheem Sterling taking up the the middle playmaker spot, behind Lazar Markovic and Lambert, was everywhere in the early going, dictating tempo and controlling the flow of Liverpool’s attack. He repeatedly drifted left and right, dropped deep, and got on the ball often.
Much more energy and aggressive pressing returned to the Reds for this match. They played with far more urgency, moving the ball quickly and crisply. Given the inconsistency of Liverpool’s performances recently, it was a positive sign.
However, the Reds still looked shaky on set plays, particularly corner kicks, where they struggle to clear the ball quickly and transition to attack. Thus, despite controlling the game for long stretches, anytime Middlesborough found themselves with a set play opportunity in the Liverpool end, there was cause for concern.
The second half found Liverpool revert into a familiar pattern of play that lacked urgency and found it difficult to break down a disciplined team that was willing to work hard, make physical challenges, and press the opposition.
In the 62nd minute, Adam Reach scored the equalizer for Middlesborough from an excellent Grant Leadbitter free kick delivery. The service left Lambert and Enrique fooled in what has become an even more suspect Liverpool defense. The goal energized the visitors.
Sterling with the help of Adam Lallana, who beta finding his form, attempted to reassert control and find a way through the packed Middlesborough defense. However, too few players could be found in the penalty area and the final pass was also lacking.
In the 73rd minute Lallana drew three defenders before sliding a pass to Markovic at the top of the arc, but the forward chose not to shoot and made a weak pass to Sterling, which was disrupted for a corner.
Brendan Rodgers, hoping to find some kind of finish to the night, substituted Mario Balotelli for Lambert immediately before the corner. Still, no real threat emerged.
The Reds got a scare in the 73rd minute, when Middlesborough’s Adam Clayton blistered a shot from 20 yards, forcing Simon Mignolet into a full-stretch save and Toure barely cleaning up the rebound.
In the 78th minute Jordan Williams came on for Jordan Rossiter and the action slowed.
The visitors were content to bunker defensively and blast the ball forward for a speedy counter. Until the 85th minute, when Middlesborough worked the ball down the left side and found Adam Clayton with a well-timed through ball at the edge of the goal box, where he failed to finish, blasting the ball high into the side netting.
It looked all but certain to be heading into extra time when the referee missed a penalty call that should have ended the contest in the final minute. Sterling drove a desperate cross into the penalty area, where defender Daniel Ayala completely missed the header and handled the ball with an outstretched arm. Were a player challenging perhaps referee Mike Jones would have not been able to dismiss claims for a penalty so easily.
In extra time, the Reds looked to make a quick start but still lacked the quality to get players into dangerous positions or find them. despite controlling the ball. Middlesborough kept the Merseysiders moving around the periphery, occasionally forcing them to regroup start their attack all over again.
After 98 minutes, Suso entered the match for Markovic and Liverpool started building even more pressure. After ten minutes, Suso was the recipient of a centrally located rebound, just beyond the penalty area, which he coolly slotted through traffic and into the back of the net.
Liverpool now continued to play and kill the game. Yet, in the final minute of extra time, Sterling gave away a loose back pass which Ayala immediately sent into Liverpool’s penalty area. Toure, in an extremely clumsy attempt at a tackle, bungled over Patrick Bamford, conceding a penalty. Bamford would be the taker and easily drilled the spot kick home for a heartbreaking equalizer.
Nothing about this cup tie was easy. Even with penalties Liverpool jumped ahead 3-1, before Middlesborough began a roll of 4 straight and Sterling missed, sending things into sudden death. From that point, nobody missed until Middlesborough’s Albert Adomah finally sent his second attempt wide in the 16th round of penalty kicks.
It was a much-needed victory, but at what cost remains to be seen with the Merseyside Derby awaiting a the weekend. While neighbours Everton have been struggling early this season, the Reds have been making nearly every match a more difficult affair. Clearly, a win is a win, but it will be little consolation if it means a third consecutive stumble in the league.
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