Red faces as Welsh make Liverpool toil

LIVERPOOL had to call on skipper Steven Gerrard as they struggled to break down a brave TNS side in the second leg of their Champions League first qualifier second leg.

For long spells the Welsh side had performed heroics to leave Liverpool with faces as red as their shirts.

Liverpool were humbled and never able to produce the goal feast boss Rafael Benitez had demanded.

The holders now face a tie next Tuesday against Lithuania's FBK Kaunas, who Hearts' owner Vladimir Romanov has a controlling interest in.

Gerrard came off the bench to score twice in the dying minutes to add to his hat-trick from the first leg after Djibril Cisse's opener, but even then it could not take away the glory from the Welsh champions who played their hearts out and even hit a post, seeing another effort ruled marginally offside.

Once again TNS' hero was goalkeeper Gerard Doherty, who produced more fine saves to cap his display last week at Anfield.

Liverpool had left Gerrard and Fernando Morientes on the bench and were made to toil for long periods. They were being made to work harder than they would have liked, and lost possession too easily. But after 26 minutes a mistake by Chris King allowed Cisse to send Liverpool ahead, after Bolo Zenden's cross eluded him.