Forest lead twice at Anfield, Isak and a deflected Muñoz strike deny Iraola's home bow: 2-2

Andoni Iraola's first home league game as Liverpool manager was supposed to be a formality against newly promoted-feeling opposition. Instead Nottingham Forest led twice at Anfield, and it took a deflected strike late on to get Liverpool out of it with a point.

Dan Ndoye gave Forest a deserved lead in the first half. Alexander Isak levelled just after the hour, only for Morgan Gibbs-White to send Alisson the wrong way from the spot after the goalkeeper had brought down Neco Williams. Víctor Muñoz, again involved in a decisive moment a week after winning the penalty that rescued a point at Newcastle, thumped the equaliser in off the underside of the bar, taking a deflection off Murillo on the way.

A deserved point for Forest, on the numbers

Liverpool had 70% of the ball but Forest had the better chances: 2.30 expected goals to Liverpool's 1.61, and four big chances created against Liverpool's one. Iraola is still waiting for his first win as Reds boss, twice pegged back by a Forest side that looked the more clinical of the two for long spells.

Iraola's bumpy opening month

This draw was the middle chapter of a shaky start for Iraola at Liverpool. His first game in charge, away at Newcastle, had also finished level: the Reds trailed twice at St James' Park and needed a Dominik Szoboszlai penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time — the 99th minute of the match — just to escape with a point. Anfield produced almost the same shape a week later, Forest ahead twice and Liverpool needing a scrappy equaliser to avoid a first home defeat of the Iraola era. The run only turned at Portman Road in matchweek 3, where Alexander Isak scored twice in three first-half minutes — both created by Cody Gakpo — to hand Iraola his first win and first clean sheet as Liverpool manager.

Forest's opening month: hard to beat, hard to score against

Forest's first three matchweeks tell their own story. They lost the opener 0-1 at home to Leeds United, undone by Anton Stach's free-kick two minutes from time after missing three clear chances of their own through Nikola Milenkovic, Igor Jesus and Chris Wood. This draw at Anfield was their best result of the three, taking a point off Liverpool despite trailing to Isak's equaliser midway through the second half. A week later they were back to a familiar pattern at the City Ground: 0-0 against Tottenham Hotspur, in a game where Neco Williams thought he had scored only for VAR to disallow it for handball. Two goals scored and three conceded across those three matches is the fairest summary of a Forest side that defends better than it finishes.

Match facts

• 24' — Dan Ndoye (Nottingham Forest)
• 60' — Alexander Isak (Liverpool)
• 71' — Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), penalty — won after Alisson fouled Neco Williams
• 82' — Víctor Muñoz (Liverpool), deflected off Murillo

Where the table stands now

Three matchweeks into the season, Liverpool sit 6th on 5 points — one win and two draws, 6 goals scored and 4 conceded — inside the Europa League spot. Nottingham Forest are 16th on 2 points, with two draws and a loss from their three games, 2 scored and 3 conceded. Neither number is far from where this draw left them at the time; a point apiece back in matchweek 2 has aged into two seasons that are still taking shape a few inches apart in the table.

What's next

The draw leaves Liverpool 11th on 2 points after two rounds, with Forest just below them in 13th on 1. Both sides get an international break before matchweek 3: Liverpool travel to Bournemouth on Sunday 20 September, while Forest host Coventry City the day before at the City Ground.