Brendan Rodgers had feared fate would determine son Anton could help Oldham knock
Liverpool out of the FA Cup again, but instead he was left to savour one of the proudest moments of his life alongside a scrappy win.
Rodgers
senior, whose side lost 3-2 at Boundary Park last season to exit this
competition at the fourth-round stage, was so concerned that the
football gods would write the perfect script that he had told his
players in the build-up to the Anfield clash that they needed to be
extra wary of "their number 17".
As it turned out, Anton only
entered the fray seven minutes from time and with Liverpool leading at
that point, after Iago Aspas had opened his Reds account and James
Tarkowski had scored an unfortunate own goal, his father was able to
savour the sight of his son running on to cheers and applause from the
Kop.
"It's brilliant, I've seen Anton's life from when he was a
young footballer and to see him run out there was a bit surreal really,"
Rodgers said after Liverpool's 2-0 win.
"He's a great kid and
we're very proud of him as mother and father. He's having a good career
and Oldham are a brilliant club for him, they really look after him
well. They've got an outstanding young manager who will go on to do
really well and he's got a young team and they've got a great spirit.
"I've
seen them a number of times and Anton's obviously playing a part in
that. It's a great moment in his career and, as a father, it's even more
special that he gets a nice round of applause from the Liverpool
supporters as well."
Such admiration may not be so forthcoming had the Liverpool boss not turned to his own substitutes at half-time, though.
After an uninspiring first 45 minutes,
Lucas Leiva
and Philippe Coutinho were both called upon to rally the troops and the
Reds soon took control with Aspas hooking home a half volley nine
minutes into the second half.
Even then their League One opponents
failed to cave in. Oldham, who thought they should have had a penalty
when debutant Gary Harkins was shoved to the turf by
Jordan Henderson, went close through Michael Petrasso and it needed the introduction of
Luis Suarez and a second goal, which came courtesy of the otherwise-brilliant Tarkowski following
Raheem Sterling's effort.
Oldham
boss Lee Johnson saw the fact Liverpool needed to introduce a trio of
star names as a testament to how well his team were playing.
Rodgers
explained: "We needed to have more speed in our game and a bit more
intensity. You don't want to do it (making the substitutions) but the
last thing I wanted was the game to go to a replay.
"I think you
learn as a manager. As you get more experiences you can either wait for
it to happen or, if you don't think it's going to happen, you have to
change the momentum of the game by making your subs.
"Coutinho
came on, Lucas came on and they add that bit of intensity and greater
purpose to our play. That allowed us to get better control."
Johnson's
men were unable to ensure lightning struck twice as Liverpool avenged
their surprise defeat at Oldham 12 months ago, yet the Football League's
youngest manager was proud of their approach.
"We worked our socks off first half, we broke well and got ourselves into areas where we had shots," he said.
"We
had corners, free-kicks...so we certainly weren't just parking the bus.
I thought our boys showed energy, particularly when we went 1-0 down.
For a 20-minute period you may not have known who was the Premier League
side.
"We passed and moved and had a good couple of chances. We
felt it was a penalty, we haven't seen it (again) yet but that may have
changed the game.
"They can go home, look at themselves in the
mirror and say that they've competed on a massive stage in front of
world-class players and world-class fans. They can enjoy the fact that
they've produced their best game."
Johnson only brought Anton
Rodgers on once Liverpool had killed the game off with a second goal,
yet the 32-year-old denied there was any sentiment in his introduction.
"He deserved it," claimed Johnson.
"I
didn't do it because it was Anton Rodgers, he's played in the cup and
the games before and he was magnificent in the game against Wolves -
probably one of the best displays all season when we beat them 2-0 away.
"I wanted to go with a group that deserved to play at Anfield, he certainly deserved his minutes."
