Liverpool drew again on the second matchday of the Premier League. In the 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest, the Reds came back twice, and Wirtz also played a part.
Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola had to settle for a 2-2 draw against Newcastle in his team’s season opener. The Reds—with German national team player Wirtz, of course, starting once again—were looking for their first win of the season on Saturday. The same went for Oliver Glasner and Nottingham Forest, who had lost to Leeds in their league opener (0–1) and then again in the League Cup (0–2).
Ndoye rewards Forest—Wirtz’s goal disallowed
Despite their shaky start to the season, the visitors played boldly from the opening whistle and gave Liverpool a tough time. The home team struggled offensively at first and were fortunate not to fall behind after chances by Igor Jesus (11’) and Ndoye (19’). In the 24th minute, however, it finally happened, and Forest took a well-deserved lead: A long ball from goalkeeper Sels found its way to Ndoye on the left side of the box, who calmly slotted it home.
Liverpool had shown little in attack for a long time—and then suddenly Wirtz scored what appeared to be the equalizer (32′). But the German national team player’s celebration was short-lived, as his goal was disallowed because Frimpong, who set it up, was offside.
That play, however, kicked off a strong spell for the Reds, with Wirtz (39th) and Munoz (45th) both coming close to equalizing. However, the 1-1 equalizer never came, and in the end, the hosts were even lucky that the score was only 0-1 at halftime, as Alisson just managed to deflect Igor Jesus’s shot onto the crossbar (45’+3).
Gibbs-White was clinical—assist for Wirtz
After the break, Liverpool stepped up their game—and were rewarded: Gakpo made a great run down the right after a pass from Wirtz and found Isak in the middle, who simply had to tap it in to equalize (60′). The Reds were now the better team—and suddenly found themselves conceding a penalty: After a quick throw-in by Delap, Williams crossed the ball into the box and was lightly touched by Alisson—a somewhat harsh call. Gibbs-White confidently converted the resulting penalty (70′).
The hosts took a few minutes to respond, but eventually found their rhythm: Wirtz found Muñoz in the box, who controlled the ball neatly and fired it under the crossbar (82′). That was all the Reds could manage, meaning they started the new season with two draws.
What’s next? Next Friday (9 p.m.), Liverpool FC faces promoted side Ipswich Town. Nottingham plays Tottenham next Saturday (4 p.m.).
