Goals from Sterling and Coutinho enough to see Liverpool through.

Over the course of two games against Bolton from the Championship, Liverpool have seemingly invented new methods of not scoring. With just minutes of this replay left, however, Brendan Rodgers’ team finally found a way and Steven Gerrard’s dream of a birthday FA Cup final lives on.

Liverpool should have won the first game a week-and-half ago. Certainly they should have won this one much more easily than this.

However, having hit the frame of the goal three times, they were staring at an embarrassing defeat after Eidur Gudjohnsen’s second half penalty edged Bolton to another 2015 FA Cup shock.

With a man advantage after the subsequent sending off of Bolton’s Neil Danns, Liverpool still looked as though they were heading out. With five minutes to go, however, Liverpool’s pressure – and their extra player – finally told.

First defender Emre Can – really a central midfield player – delivered a lovely chip over the Bolton defence for Raheem Sterling to volley in the equaliser. Then, three minutes later and with extra time seemingly inevitable, Phillipe Coutinho beat Bolton goalkeeper Andrew Lonergan with a right foot shot from 20 yards to hand Liverpool a fifth round game at Crystal Palace.

It was tough on Neil Lennon’s Bolton. Struggling with injuries, the home team played for 90 minutes with a defender – Matthew Mills – up front. Had they not had Danns sent off, they may have won. At 1-0 Gudjohnsen spurned a really good headed chance and that also proved significant.

Liverpool, though, somehow found a way to win. It’s a habit they must now keep.

Rodgers spoke in the run-up to the game about the manner in which his team had improved in recent weeks. It was easy to see his point but it is not an observation that extends to Liverpool’s work in front of goal. They do have mitigating circumstances – their centre forwards are either not good enough or rarely fit enough – but they are in danger of becoming a little like the Arsenal side of a few seasons ago. Lovely to watch but inadequate at the art of scoring.

Rodgers spoke of justice being served after the final whistle.

'It was never a penalty,' he said.

His defender Martin Skrtel did dangle a leg in front of young Bolton prospect Zach Clough in the 59th minute, though, and had Liverpool gone on to lose Rodgers may well have found that he had few allies when it came to talk of miscarriages of jusrice. 

Simply, Liverpool need to start taking a greater share of the chances they create.