Liverpool sealed a first home Premier League win of the season against Brighton.
Florian Wirtz helped opened the scoring when Pascal Gross gifted him with a weak clearance before his low shot was deflected in by the visitors’ midfielder.
The Reds soon doubled their tally as Bradley Barcola dispossessed Oliver Boscagli and teed up Alexander Isak for a first-time finish inside the area.
Andoni Iraola’s side move up to fourth place in the top-flight table after racking up a quartet of consecutive victories in all competitions.
Here were the key talking points from Anfield:
Iraola’s full-set win worth the wait
Liverpool needed to bide their time for Andoni Iraola’s first home league win.
The Basque got off the mark in the Champions League and Carabao Cup at his first attempts but the Premier League proved to be a tougher nut to crack.
Away from home, the Reds have shown their mettle several times but the Anfield crowd was left wanting prior to an upwardly mobile Brighton’s visit.
Fabian Hurzeler’s side pitched up in L4 aiming to enhance their status as early-season dark horses and should really have done in the opening stages.
Yet from the moment Yasin Ayari blazed a seemingly inevitable opener into The Kop, their hosts clicked into gear with two goals inside just four minutes.
Chants of ‘Poetry in Motion’ rang out across this stadium after Alexander Isak plundered the second confirmed supporters’ growing belief in Iraola’s vision.
They had seen glimpses of it before downing the Seagulls but this result and performance was pure vindication of the Liverpool head coach’s methods.
Reds head over heels with Araujo
They say you should never fall in love with a loan player but it already appears to be too late for that where Ronald Araujo is concerned.
Eyebrows were raised when Liverpool took a season-long punt on the Uruguay international after he fell out of favour at parent club Barcelona.
The end of Araujo’s playing time in Catalonia contained several warning signs why his Premier League sojourn had the potential to backfire on Merseyside.
But it is because of those same flaws that the 28-year-old is currently enjoying cult hero status after another barnstorming performance.
He flew head-first into one challenge in the penalty area while a thundering clearance into touch late on to stop Malick Yalcouye had fans on their feet.
At the other end, Araujo was also a constant menace with Pascal Gross’ own-goal opener stemming from embracing his role as a marauding full-back.
To the untrained eye, his methods appear unconventional and even veer into maverick territory but that is integral to his ongoing appeal among Kopites.
More displays like this will only strengthen the clamour to make his stay a permanent one next summer for the relatively modest fee of £47 million.
A potentially defining week ahead
For Liverpool, every week is a big one – it comes with the job description.
Iraola has learned that very quickly with games continuing to come thick and fast as his side hit the midway stage of a four-game sequence on home soil.
Some weeks, however, are more defining than others and back-to-back games in the next seven days will offer arguably his sternest tests to date.
A Carabao Cup fourth round tie with Chelsea on Wednesday sees Xabi Alonso brings a third different opponent to his one-time stomping ground.
The former playmaker has no shortage of motivation with his side already smarting from a derby defeat to a lowly Tottenham over the weekend.
Four days later, Arsenal follow their London counterparts in making the trip north as the reigning champions aim to strengthen their current title bid.
Both encounters risk being chastening ones for Liverpool with their quality in depth currently depleted by mounting injuries across all outfield departments.
Iraola may finish empty-handed from each occasion but how he responds to the challenges could have ramifications for the coming weeks and beyond.