Lambert spoke of the hurt he felt at seeing his first goal for Liverpool – his boyhood club - rendered almost entirely pointless by the second half capitulation at the hands of Crystal Palace on Sunday. His second will mean a whole lot more to the team he holds so dear.
The tempo was slow and there were individual errors perhaps indicative of a team low on confidence, but the second Liverpool goal was one of quality.
Lambert was involved again as he pressed to regain possession in the Ludogorets half. Raheem Sterling collected the ball and delivered a pass of the standard we have come to expect but have seldom seen in recent weeks from the exciting teenager, and Jordan Henderson had the pace and energy to meet it precisely where he had pointed for it to be delivered.
After the interval Liverpool simply held on, attempting to graft their way to three vital points and only occasionally threatened to counter through Sterling, who had a chance to all but end the game as a contest with 10 minutes remaining but saw his shot saved at close range.
And they were made to pay. The problems at the back continued as Rodgers’ charges failed to deal with a late corner which Ilkov Terziev nodded home unmarked after a Svetoslav Dyakov flick-on.
The late goal means little to Liverpool in terms of their ultimate objective. A victory for Real Madrid away to Basel, courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo, means the Anfield side still need a victory over the Swiss outfit to see them finish second in Group B.
"Obviously we’re disappointed with the goal at the end but it is irrelevant," Rodgers said after the match.
The failure to win a fifth successive game is likely to take its toll, however. The scrutiny Rodgers and his players will face is only set to intensify in the wake of this draw and anything less than nine points from the next three league fixtures against Stoke, Leicester City and Sunderland will see Liverpool again placed under the microscope.
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