Liverpool’s perfect Champions League start continued against Villarreal.
The visitors took a surprise lead in the opening five minutes after Virgil van Dijk’s header back to Alisson was seized upon by Georges Mikautadze.
Things went from bad to worse for midway through the half when Sergi Cardona rounded off a counterattack by placing his shot into The Kop’s net.
Alexis Mac Allister reduced the deficit on 36 minutes courtesy of a looping header from Kostas Tsimikas’ right-sided corner to beat Peter Gulacsi.
The Reds drew level on the stroke of half time through Ronald Araujo pouncing unmarked at the far post to meet Rio Ngumoha’s searching delivery.
Ngumoha was key to the hosts taking an upper hand at the second half’s midway stage by teeing up Mac Allister to rifle the ball into the roof of the net.
Three minutes .later, substitute Florian Wirtz increased their advantage by rolling a tidy finish from Cody Gakpo’s assist to fire a shot across Gulacsi.
But the Yellow Submarine set up a nervy finale as Tani Oluwaseyi restored a one-goal margin between the teams by meeting Ayoze Perez’s far cross.
Andoni Iraola’s side moved up to second in the league phase for Europe’s elite club competition after holding on in Tuesday’s seven-goal thriller.
Here were the key talking points from Anfield:
Iraola still getting caught cold
Andoni Iraola clearly subscribes to the late Johan Cruyff’s outlook on football.
Tactically, the Liverpool head coach is from a different school of thought than the godfather of modern football but they share commonality on one subject.
Cruyff famously declared he would always choose to win a game 5-4 instead of 1-0 while Iraola opts for the fractionally more conservative score line of 4-3.
But the Basque’s creed was tested to its limit as he faced off against one-time sparring partner Inigo Perez for the first time beneath the Anfield floodlights.
Villarreal sucker-punched their hosts within the opening minutes and initially appeared set to clinch a famous victory in L4 at a third time of asking.
Slow starts are not uncommon for the Reds this season, as last weekend’s comeback against Brentford attests, but this was still worryingly pedestrian.
The Yellow Submarine may have run aground but Brighton, Chelsea and Arsenal will be far less forgiving when they all visit in the next 11 days.
Ngumoha’s star is now unstoppable
Whenever Liverpool’s production line yields another precocious talent, the focus immediately gravitates towards keeping a lid on their early expectations.
It’s a natural apprehension to provide perspective about the heights which those emerging from the Kirkby centre of excellence can realistically attain.
Sometimes, however, there is no holding back a player whose star is already soaring at first-team level with Rio Ngumoha proving to be the latest to ignite.
Already a senior England international, the winger was not only integral to a belated fightback but also the reason why his side weren’t out for the count..
As his teammates toiled, Ngumoha was single-handedly attempting to take the game to the visitors and went on to record a historic haul of assists..
He is now the youngest Liverpool player since Michael Owen in the 1998 League Cup semi-final against Middlesbrough to set up two goals in a game.
What made it all the more impressive is that he did so from outside his comfort zone; operating in a still unfamiliar role on the righthand side.
Forget Bayern Munich – the whole of Europe is now sitting up and taking note.
Gravenberch fills the Szoboszlai role
Mounting injuries forced Liverpool to ring the changes for this game.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s continued absence opened the door for the return of Ryan Gravenberch after serving his Premier League one-match suspension.
All signs before kick-off pointed to the Netherlands international partnering Trey Nyoni in the double pivot with Alexis Mac Allister deployed as the No.10.
There was even a possibility of the trio lining up uniformly in a rare break of the 4-2-3-1 formation that remains a bedrock for the Anfield dugout.
Yet contrary to UEFA’s official line-up graphic, Iraola stuck to his tried and tested formula with Gravenberch utilised in the more advanced position.
It was not a move which paid off as the engine room was easily bypassed in the first half before the 24-year-old moved to an equally unorthodox role.
Ronald Araujo’s tactical withdrawal.at the interval saw Gravenberch follow in the footsteps of Szoboszlai by making an unlikely cameo at right-back.
A late reducer by Tani Oluwaseyi aside, he was surprisingly assured in the position which helped free up space for Florian Wirtz’s attacking introduction.
In more ways than one, he is proving a capable stand-in for Szoboszlai.