Record winners Liverpool were pushed into extra time before finally beating League One side Notts County 4-2 in the Capital One 2nd Round tie at Anfield.
The game started too comfortable for the home side, the Reds dominating possession and play on the first half. Raheem Sterling opened the scoring early on in the fourth minute beating two defenders to clip a shot in after a fine run from 40 yards out.
Daniel Sturridge doubled the score slamming in Steven Gerrard's cross from a tight angle.
The only downer for the home side was the early change they had to make after just nine minutes, defender Aly Cissokho hobbling off and being replaced by Daniel Agger following a challenge from Magpie's Jamal Campbell Ryce.
Gerrard, Agger and Kolo Toure all hit the woodwork as Brendan Rodgers' men looked nearly certain to progress through to the third round without too much of a sweat.
But the visitors pulled off an unexpected turnaround in the second half, Yoann Arquin smashing in a powerful header with just under half an hour to go before Adam Coombles netted the Martinique international's fine run and pull-back-pass to complete he visitor's comeback.
Meanwhile, Joe Allen had limped off the pitch injured for the Reds. Extra time brought extra pains and strains on to Liverpool after Toure was forced off injured, reducing the home side to ten men as they had used up all three of their substitutions in normal play time.
But the Reds restored their lead in the 109th minute when Sturridge squeezed in his second goal of the night under County keeper Bartosz Bialkowski.
Substitute Jordan Henderson sealed the win with a cheeky nutmeg through defender Enda Stevens
before curling a low shot into the bottom corner to make it 4-2 to the Reds.
Liverpool 4-2 Notts County (AET; FT 2-2; HT 2-0)
Liverpool Goals: 1.: 3:53min Raheem Sterling (31), 2. & 3.: 28:53 & 108:34min Daniel Sturridge (15), 4.: 109:40min Jordan Henderson (14).
Notts County Goals: 1.: 61:56min Yoann Arquin (15), 2.: 83:24min Adam Coombes (14).
Liverpool Team: 22 Mignolet; 20 Cissokho (5 Agger- 10.min), 47 Wisdom (booked 98.min), 4 Toure, 2 Johnson; 24 Allen (14 Henderson- 65.min), 8 Gerrard; 31 Sterling (booked 106.min), 6 Luis Alberto (10 Coutinho- 72.min), 33 Ibe; 15 Sturridge. 4-2-3-1
Subs not used: 1 Jones, 9 Aspas, 21 Lucas, 29 Borini.
Notts County Team: 1 Bialkowski; 24 Stevens, 4 Liddle, 5 Smith, 2 Dumbuya; 11 Bell (14 Coombes- 82.min), 22 Fotheringham (28 Boucaud- 77.min), 16 Labadie, 20 Campbell-Ryce (booked 52.min) (21 Thompson- 71.min); 8 McGregor; 15 Arquin (booked 77.min). 4-4-1-1
Subs not used: 19 Murray, 23 Speiss, 25 Tempest, 31 Nangle.
Opta Match Stats: Liverpool-Notts County
-Attack-
Shots: 28-10
On target: 9-5
Blocked: 5-2
From outside the box: 13-4
Inside: 15-6
Shot accuracy: 39.1%-62.5%
-General Play-
Possession: 62.9%-37.1%
Duels won: 56.7%-43.3%
Aerial duels won: 64.3%-35.7%
Interceptions: 8-20
Offsides: 5-4
Corners: 8-3
-Distribution-
Total passes: 829-473
Long: 8.9%-14.4%
Accuracy: 90%-80.5%
Accuracy opposition half: 82.3%-68.1%
Total crosses: 20-16
Successful crosses: 30%-18.8%
-Defence & Discipline-
Tackles: 33-40
Won: 78.8%-92.5%
Clearances: 45-32
Fouls conceded: 10-18
Yellow cards: 2-2
Red cards: 0-0
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