Liverpool news: Arsenal end 14 years of Anfield pain as Iraola's side fall short

The only goal arrived early and it was a gift: Alisson's clearance did not find a red shirt and Arsenal punished it through Kai Havertz. From there the champions did what champions do. They slowed the game, quietened the crowd and defended their own box with a concentration Liverpool never matched at the other end.

Iraola's side had their spells, with Mac Allister driving from midfield and Nyoni carrying himself like a senior player, but the final ball was heavy and the penalty area was permanently crowded. A first Arsenal win at Anfield since 2010-something is a statistic that will follow this team for a while.

The scoreline was narrow; the difference in know-how was not.

The moment that will run all week came in the second half, when Isak had his shirt pulled inside the area and the referee waved it away. VAR looked, or said it looked, and did nothing.

Iraola was blunt afterwards, arguing that if you don't go down you don't get the call, and confirming he will coach his forwards to hit the floor in future. Van Dijk shared the frustration, and the club's own post-match output carried the same tone.

Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and Daniel Sturridge all lined up on the same side, telling the officials to do their job. Gary Neville went the other way on Mac Allister's tangle with Martin Odegaard and Noni Madueke, praising VAR for keeping the red card in the pocket.

A manager publicly saying he will teach diving is a headline this club will have to live with, whether or not he was right.

Paul Gorst's assessment pulled no punches: Iraola needs far more from a forward line that has cost £239m, and Arsenal's trap swallowed Liverpool whole. The ratings were split. Mac Allister came out with an 8/10, while two teammates were handed 5/10s, and Ian Doyle's scores make uncomfortable reading for the front men.

The BBC's version was blunter still, rewarding Declan Rice and suggesting Florian Wirtz has to do more in games of this size. Andy Hunter's piece caught the shape of the afternoon perfectly: it opened with talk of a title bid and closed with a work in progress fizzling out.

Iraola had already dismissed the title question on Friday with two words, 'too early'. Sunday did not prove him wrong.

Nyoni was the bright spot. Handed a first Premier League start, the teenager barely put a foot wrong against Mikel Arteta's midfield and did not look remotely overawed by the occasion. Iraola now has a real selection decision on his hands rather than a courtesy to hand out.

Not everything landed: the Szoboszlai substitution backfired and the crowd spent long spells furious with the referee. Full-time brought audible anger around the ground, which tells you what Anfield expected from this fixture when the weekend began.

The manager's programme notes had talked about building momentum and needing a performance close to Liverpool's best. He got neither, but he did get a young midfielder who looks ready for more.

The rumour mill did not take the weekend off. Anfield Watch reports a deal is agreed for an attacking midfielder it likens to Philippe Coutinho, a comparison designed to get clicks and one the outlet does not put a name to.

The same source says a senior player remains on course to leave, with his situation unchanged despite everything else moving. Another report has a player ready to sign and ties the deal to the ownership situation at the club, while a fourth builds a Trent Alexander-Arnold return out of comments coming from Real Madrid.

Alexander-Arnold left Merseyside for Spain and is no longer part of this squad, so treat that one as noise until something is signed. After a defeat like Sunday's, the appetite for a saviour is understandable. It is also exactly when clubs make their worst decisions.