Full-time: Liverpool 2 Middlesbrough 2 (Liverpool win 14-13 on penalties)

WHERE to start? Middlesbrough’s resilience and efficiency in normal time, the two goals during extra-time, but none of that compares to the incredible night of penalty drama in the Capital One Cup which Anfield is unlikely to forget.

After Patrick Bamford, who had forced penalties by converting a last-gasp spot-kick in stoppage-time, had missed Boro’s first of the shoot-out, it looked as if Liverpool had the job done only for Raheem Sterling to miss his side’s fifth.

Suddenly sudden-death excitement descended in front of the Kop and neither Boro goalkeeper Jamal Blackman nor Simon Mignolet could stop any of the next 20 consecutive penalties until Albert Adomah stepped up for the second time. Somebody had to miss the decisive one and Adomah, consoled by his team-mates, as they walked off the pitch, was the man.

Liverpool, struggling to find the form that earned them a Champions League place, scraped into round four on an unbelievable night.

They progressed 14-13 on penalties, the longest shoot-out in the history of the League Cup, beating the previous best of 9-8.

Boro forced the game beyond the 90 minutes when Adam Reach, not even born the last time the Teessiders won in these parts in 1976, directed home a free header from Grant Leadbitter’s free-kick in the 62nd minute.

That was just reward for the way the Championship promotion hopefuls reacted to falling behind to an 11th minute opener from Liverpool debutant Jordan Rossiter after a calamitous mix-up between goalkeeper Blackman and Kenneth Omeruo.

Blackman, largely untested in 90 minutes, pulled off a couple of wonderful saves in extra-time to deny Jose Enrique and Sterling, but was unable to prevent Suso from hitting Liverpool back in front.

The 20-year-old made the most of the space in front of him when Enrique’s cross was half cleared by shooting low through a crowded area and beyond Blackman.

But with the game effectively won, Kolo Toure made an horrendous error, charging and pushing Bamford to the floor as he burst into the box deep.

Referee Mike Jones had little choice but to point to the spot and the calm figure of Bamford – setting the tone for what was to come - sent Mignolet the wrong way to force penalties.

It is 25 matches since Boro last won at Anfield and, given the differentials in spending power, the odds were stacked against ending that run.

Karanka, keen to impress on the big stage, had different ideas and sent out, arguably, his strongest available team.

The only exception to that was the introduction of Blackman in goal for his debut. The Chelsea youngster, on loan until January, switched on deadline day switch and this was his chance, with Dimi Konstantopoulos rested after an effective few outings.

And things looked to be going reasonably well in the opening ten minutes. Liverpool had not threatened, while Reach and Lee Tomlin had shown a willingness to attack with a couple of probing runs.

Had Mignolet not been on hand to hold a back post header from Daniel Ayala, a former Liverpool defender, from hitting his top corner then Boro would have stunned Anfield by taking the lead.

But Mignolet’s alertness prevented that and within two minutes Liverpool had been handed a goal out of nothing.

A routine ball over the top should have been dealt with comfortably; instead there was a clear breakdown in communication between Boro’s two Chelsea men.

Blackman raced out and made a mess of his attempt to slide and gather as Omeruo tried to shepherd back to him.

After the ball had rebounded off the goalkeeper, he then got up quickly to deny Rickie Lambert but Rossiter slid a shot underneath Blackman’s right foot and into the empty net.

With just 11 minutes on the clock, an already difficult task had become a lot harder for Boro. But despite the early blow, Boro passed it around well enough and caused Liverpool’s defence problems.

Chances were few and far between, however, except for one terrific drive from Tomlin eight minutes before half-time. The forward, recalled alongside Kike, controlled a cleared corner before testing Mignolet with a low drive which forced a fine stop from the Belgian.

There was a sense, though, with Mamadou Sakho looking particularly suspect alongside Toure, Boro could find a breakthrough after the restart and within a few seconds Tomlin had found space again, this time shooting wide from distance.

After Liverpool had done little to pose a threat despite a period of greater possession, Boro got their reward for frustrating their hosts.

When Leadbitter sent in a free-kick from the right, the Liverpool defence failed to track Reach’s run to the centre of the box and he glanced a fine header inside Mignolet’s far post with 28 minutes remaining.

Liverpool were without the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Philipe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, so there was a greater onus on Sterling to perform and as the second half wore on he was the biggest threat to Boro.

The situation prompted Rodgers to bring in on Mario Balotelli with 16 minutes remaining for Lambert, in a desperate attempt to lift Anfield and the rest of the Liverpool team.

Yet it was still Boro testing the keeper and Mignolet had to be alert to parry an Adam Clayton drive, which led to Tomlin shooting wide under pressure from Toure.

The nerves in the Liverpool backline only seemed to increase, but both defences survived – despite late calls for a handball from Ayala - and the game went to extra-time. And so to the epic penalties.