Roma responded quickly and should have taken the lead when Pablo Osvaldo dribbled past Jamie Carragher and found himself one-on-one with Gulacsi, but again the Hungarian stood tall and pushed the shot around the post for a corner.

As both teams increased their tempo, Jonjo Shelvey almost helped the Reds break the deadlock twice in quick succession. First, the 20-year-old drove from midfield before sending a shot at goal which Lobont had to parry, then the midfielder played in Nathan Eccleston, whose rising shot went wide.

Two of the Reds' returning stars combined on 32 minutes but were denied by the woodwork. Alberto Aquilani's precise dink forward found Cole, who, spotting Lobont off his line, lobbed the 'keeper but saw his attempt bounce clear off the top of the crossbar.

Shelvey brought another save out of Lobont five minutes before half-time after creating a chance for himself out of nothing. The Reds No.33 carried the ball past two Roma defenders and hit a left-footed strike towards goal but the goalkeeper was down quickly to save, and Lobont was called into action again a minute before the break, stopping a Cole shot to ensure the half ended goalless.

Rodgers made seven changes for the second period, with Adam, Daniel Agger, Jon Flanagan, Brad Jones, Adam Morgan, Dani Pacheco and Suso all given time to impress by the new boss, whose counterpart, Zdenek Zeman, introduced five new players of his own.

Pacheco fizzed a shot high and wide after linking with Shelvey but, as in the first half, Tachtsidis forced the first save of the period. Fed by half-time substitute Erik Lamela, the midfielder's shot from the edge of the area was deflected but smartly saved by Jones.

A swerving free-kick by Shelvey had Lobont diving in despair but the youngster's effort curled around the wrong side of the post, before Roma full-back Aleandro Rosi latched onto a clever through ball from Bradley but thrashed his shot well over when one-on-one with Jones.

In the 63rd minute, the Reds fell behind to a strike from USA midfielder Bradley. Found a yard inside the Liverpool box by Lamela, the new Roma signing took one touch to set himself and rifled a finish beyond Jones into the corner.

Suso could have levelled two minutes later after Pacheco beat his man on the left and delivered into the six-yard box but his Spanish compatriot could not find the target, and the Reds paid the price on 69 minutes when the Italians doubled their advantage.

Lamela was again at the heart of the Roma move, completing a one-two to find space in the Liverpool area. The Argentinian's shot was saved by Jones but arrived perfectly in the path of Florenzi, who blasted home to make it 2-0.

Adam gave Liverpool a lifeline with 10 minutes remaining on the clock. Flanagan delivered a deep cross from the right to Pacheco, who set the ball up for Adam to drive into the far corner past Lobont from 20 yards.

Lamela should have put the game beyond the Reds in the 86th minute but his shot came back off Jones' right post. Roma held on regardless, though, with the Reds unable to produce an equaliser during the final minutes.