Liverpool were held to a hard-fought draw for the second week in a row as Andoni Iraola’s side had to come from behind twice to draw 2-2 against Nottingham Forest at Anfield
Liverpool were put through their paces again as Nottingham Forest held Andoni Iraola’s side to a 2-2 draw at Anfield. Goals from Alexander Isak and a late equaliser from Victor Munoz saved the point in a hard-fought and entertaining clash.
The Reds needed to improve from their trip to St James’ Park on the opening day when Dominik Szoboszlai rescued the Reds a point with the last kick of the game following the award of a soft penalty.
And the club’s response has been to seal an agreement with PSG for the signature of Bradley Barcola in a deal worth £123million. The winger’s imminent arrival comes as Cody Gakpo’s links to Manchester City and Spurs intensify, but the Dutchman, who found the net at Newcastle, started and was deployed on the right.
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Gakpo has played virtually his whole career off the left, and has rarely featured off the right. It’s a decision that offered an insight into Andoni Iraola’s thinking with Victor Munoz starting on the left. Barcola can operate on either wing as freely as the other, but Gakpo’s switch of flanks could hint that the Frenchman may play off the right and partner Munoz.
After 20 minutes, Liverpool had no shots on goal compared to Forest’s four, and had only one touch inside the penalty box. Just like at Newcastle, the Reds were flat, lacking tempo and ingenuity and deservedly found themselves behind when Dan Ndoye found the far corner of Alisson’s net to score his first goal since the opening day of last season.
Alexis Mac Allister was selected to start over Ryan Gravenberch in the midfield to bring some stability to the engine room, but he found himself ragdolled in a duel with Igor Jesus as the big striker plucked the ball down out of the sky and laid the ball off in the build up.
Oliver Glasner’s side continued as the more likely team until Liverpool thought they had equalised when Florian Wirtz found the far corner after Murillo had given the ball away on the edge of his own box. But Jeremie Frimpong was offside as the ball was deflected forward and VAR disallowed the German’s strike – much to Forest’s relief, who gifted the Reds their first chance of the game.
Iraola’s side did step up their play as half-time approached, with Wirtz again going close as Matz Sels was forced to tip his header over the bar.
Munoz then had a golden chance at the end of the first half as his effort on the turn went just wide of the top corner. However, the opportunity should have been taken by Isak, who miscontrolled the ball as it fell to him unmarked 12 yards out. Just like at Newcastle, the big Swede looked hopeless with what was just his fifth touch of the first half.
As if Liverpool didn’t need another wake-up, Alisson produced a brilliant stop to push Jesus’ six-yard snapshot onto the bar to deny Forest putting daylight between the two sides at the break.
Iraola clearly got into his players at the break as Liverpool looked more up for the fight, but were still lacking quality in the final third, causing frustration among the players and supporters, shown by Munoz’s yellow card for dissent.
But just as the Basque boss was set to make a triple change, Gakpo’s strength saw him roll Neco Williams and square the ball across the face of goal on a plate for Isak. The £125m man desperately needed a goal and he couldn’t have wished for a better chance to break his duck.
Iraola’s decision to deploy Gakpo on the right forced the equaliser with the 27-year-old utilised as an out-and-out winger. Despite slicing a cross out of play moments before, the Dutchman, for a change, did the simple thing perfectly to bring Liverpool back into the game.
Despite the three substitutes lined up, Iraola decided not to bring them on when on top, waiting 10 minutes too long as Forest went down the other end to win a penalty after Alisson was late diving at the feet of Williams.
Morgan Gibbs-White stepped up from the spot and scored – and Iraola eventually introduced the exact same three subs – Rio Ngumoha, Ryan Gravenberch and Kostas Tsimikas before the ball was in play again.
Despite his assist, Iraola opted to take Gakpo off and leave Munoz on the pitch, moving the £34.5m signing to the right, where he found space in the channel between Williams and Murillo before taking the ball on the turn and firing the ball into the roof of the net via the crossbar and a deflection off Murillo’s desperate attempt to block in the 82nd minute.
Liverpool pressed for a winner but ultimately failed to create another chance. Iraola’s side have two points from two games but will be hoping to get off the mark against Ipswich on Friday.