A malfunctioning electronic board will not have been on anyone’s bingo list of Liverpool complaints for the first Anfield game of Andoni Iraola’s tenure, but others sounded all too familiar. A slow start, a lack of intensity and defensive shortcomings were again evident as Liverpool salvaged a point against Nottingham Forest, while showing stronger foundations are required along with the excitement of £123m Bradley Barcola.
In front of some of the billionaires behind Liverpool, Iraola’s opening act on home soil offered more food for thought than the feast they may have been expecting. Forest were good value for the second 2-2 draw of the new Liverpool head coach’s reign and created enough clear openings to justify their frustration at the final outcome. A superb finish from Liverpool’s summer signing Víctor Muñoz cancelled out Morgan Gibbs-White’s penalty, after Alexander Isak had done the same to Dan Ndoye’s opener.
“I’ve got two emotions,” said Oliver Glasner. “I’m very proud of the performance and how many chances we created, but I’m disappointed with the result. It could and should have been a win, but after 60, 65 minutes our defending was not as clinical.”
Iraola’s irritations veered from his team’s first-half display to the bizarre situation of being unable to make a triple substitution because the assistant’s electronic board would not work. Liam Delap, Forest’s new record signing who made a good impression, took a quick throw that led to the visitors’ second goal while Ryan Gravenberch, Rio Ngumoha and Kostas Tsimikas waited to come on.
Watching on from the directors’ box were Liverpool’s prospective new vice-chair Amit Bhatia and his father-in-law, the Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. Bhatia and Mittal, who has given financial backing to 1892 Holdings acquiring a 38% stake in Liverpool, were the invited guests of John W Henry. Jeff Bezos and Eduardo Saverin, other billionaire members of the consortium, were not in attendance.
The club’s principal owner was present to witness the start of a brave new era. Turns out it looked very much like the old one, even down to Dominik Szoboszlai ending the game at right-back.
After a rousing tribute before kick-off to Kevin Keegan Liverpool were soon exposed by the pace and movement of the Forest attack. First-time long balls released Ndoye behind the defence twice in the opening six minutes and, while the attacking midfielder lost his footing on both occasions, Liverpool failed to deal with the source of their problems.
Forest carried the only consistent threat in the first half with Igor Jesus, thwarted by Jérémy Jacquet’s fine intervention, Ndoye and Jesus again having chances before the breakthrough. Having cleared a Forest corner, Liverpool were undone by Matz Sels’s long clearance back over their defence to Jesus.
The striker, just onside, held up the goalkeeper’s delivery despite the close attentions of Jacquet and Alexis Mac Allister to find Gibbs-White, who rolled a simple pass to the unmarked Ndoye. The Switzerland international steered a precise finish low beyond Alisson’s left hand.
Anfield erupted shortly afterwards when Florian Wirtz swept a smart finish on the turn inside Sels’s right post. A much-needed goal for Liverpool and their £116m playmaker, however, was disallowed by the video assistant referee for offside against Jeremie Frimpong in the buildup.
Patience in Frimpong is in short supply at Anfield judging by the exasperation that greeted his poor crossing and defensive toils. Iraola would replace both of his full-backs before the afternoon was over.
Liverpool were indebted to Alisson for denying Forest a second goal on the stroke of half-time. Ola Aina flew past Muñoz before picking out Jesus near the penalty spot. Alisson produced a superb, crucial save to turn the striker’s first-time shot on to his crossbar.
The Brazilian’s intervention assumed greater significance when Liverpool levelled on the hour. Cody Gakpo, a transfer target for Manchester City and Tottenham, gave a timely reminder of his quality when receiving Wirtz’s pass and spinning away from two defenders, Neco Williams and Murillo, in one movement. He then supplied a perfect pass across the face of the goal for Isak to tap home.
Delap’s quick-thinking caught Liverpool cold – Jacquet and Frimpong in particular – as his throw-in released Williams into the area with the defenders asleep. The former Liverpool full-back flicked a shot high and wide of the goal before being felled by the keeper, who was booked for protesting the harsh penalty decision. Gibbs-White swept an emphatic penalty kick to the keeper’s right as Alisson dived left.
Liverpool, improved by the substitutions, fought back for a second time when Wirtz pierced the defence with an excellent pass behind Murillo to Muñoz. The £34.5m summer signing from Osasuna marked his home debut with a brilliant finish off the underside of the crossbar to rescue a point for Iraola’s work in progress.
