Another Twice-Behind Scare at Anfield, Saved Late by One Moment of Class
Liverpool have now gone through the best part of two matches waiting on someone else to solve problems their back line keeps creating, and once again it was Victor Munoz who did it, not any of Andoni Iraola’s supposed leaders. A 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest at Anfield leaves the new head coach still hunting his first league win, and it leaves us asking serious questions about a defence that has now been carved open in successive weeks by sides who fancied their chances of an away goal.
Forest exploit the same old gaps
The warning signs were there early. Jeremy Jacquet did well to deny Igor Jesus inside the opening exchanges and Dan Ndoye headed narrowly wide from a James McAtee cross, but Forest kept probing and it paid off midway through the first half. A simple ball over the top split Liverpool apart, Morgan Gibbs-White found Ndoye, and the finish was calm enough that nobody at Anfield could pretend it was a fluke. Florian Wirtz thought he had levelled matters ten minutes later only for the goal to be chalked off, and Alisson had to be alert again before the break to deny Igor Jesus from close range.
Isak levels, but the lead does not last
Liverpool looked better after the restart and got their reward on the hour when Cody Gakpo skipped past Neco Williams and picked out Alexander Isak, who had the simplest of finishes into an empty net. For a spell it felt like Iraola’s side might actually push on and take control of a match they had barely led in. Instead, Forest struck back inside ten minutes. Liam Delap reacted first to a loose ball out for a throw-in, combined with Williams, and when the wing-back’s run took him past Alisson, referee Samuel Barrott had no hesitation pointing to the spot. Liverpool’s protests changed nothing, and Morgan Gibbs-White sent Alisson the wrong way to put Forest back in front.
Munoz does it again
Just as they did against Newcastle the previous weekend, Liverpool found an answer with eight minutes left, and once more it came from Munoz. Wirtz did the creative work, and Munoz drove his finish in off the underside of the crossbar with the kind of conviction this squad has too often lacked in front of goal this season. Neither Iraola nor his opposite number Oliver Glasner have won a league game since taking charge of their respective clubs, and on this evidence both still have plenty to work through.
Our take
Two goals conceded from two clear defensive lapses is not a one-off at this point, it is becoming the story of Iraola’s opening weeks in charge. Munoz’s late intervention will get the headlines and he has earned every bit of that praise, but the bigger issue for Liverpool is a back line that keeps handing sides like Forest a route back into games they had no business being in. There is enough quality further forward to keep bailing this team out for now. It will not last if the same pattern repeats once the fixtures get harder.