A shell-shocked Kop could only sit in stunned silence as the noise from the away end filled each corner of Anfield.
They were Leeds United, we were told, they were marching on together, and, to put it in family-friendly terms, they didn't think Liverpool were particularly good. They were right on that score, at least.
The statistics will tell you that Liverpool's 29-game unbeaten home run, dating back to March 2021, is over, but this was in all actuality their first Premier League defeat in front of their own fans since April 23, 2017. You have to trawl back some 2016 days to a 2-1 win for Sam Allardyce's Crystal Palace for that setback. Its place in history is no more.
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But this is about more than just the ending of a proud record, whichever one you choose to recognise. No, it is far more worrying than that. This could in fact be the moment when Anfield's aura under Jurgen Klopp was shattered; the moment when a risible, regrettable season reached a new nadir.
Qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League, courtesy of a 3-0 win against Ajax on Wednesday night, did little to inspire them here and the Reds' best chance at participating in that competition next term may be to actually win it at this juncture. That's how serious this current predicament is.
Klopp made just the one change from that win in Amsterdam as Thiago Alcantara came in for Jordan Henderson, who picked up a knock to the knee at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.
Liverpool found themselves behind for the eighth time this season when Joe Gomez's blind back-pass caught Alisson Becker out. The goalkeeper's slip proved fatal as Rodrigo tapped into an unguarded net. It was also the third time in a dozen fixtures this Premier League campaign that Klopp's side had conceded inside five minutes, which is a majorly concerning statistic.
General consensus appeared to point the finger most at Gomez, whose peculiar campaign goes on. The defender had played his part in three clean sheets in four prior to this one - including the expert shackling of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne against Manchester City - but this error was added to the one that saw him concede a penalty here against West Ham last time out.
Mohamed Salah levelled with his seventh goal against Leeds 10 minutes later when he gently guided home a hooked cross from the excellent Andy Robertson as Liverpool made a sustained spell of pressure count.
The most notable aspect of the first period though was the regularity of the moans and the groans from the home fans. As Klopp players struggled to get their foot on the ball for any great length of time, the howls were getting more and more audible as supporters made their disapproval known with every poor touch or overhit pass. At one point, Fabinho was forced to turn to the Kop and urge them for more support after Harvey Elliott had lost possession in his own half.
That the biggest cheer of the first 45 minutes was reserved for Robertson when he barged into Brenden Aaronson to concede a foul and rile up both the Leeds attacker and his team-mate Tyler Adams in the process, spoke volumes. The match had become a scrap and the Reds defender's acknowledgement of such was saluted by fans who had been starved of any great entertainment.
If it was an off-night for the players, though, the same has to be said of the crowd. Saturday night kick-offs in the Premier League are evidently not conducive to the famous Anfield atmosphere. Klopp sent on Henderson and Curtis Jones for the underwhelming duo of Fabinho and Elliott on the hour mark before the first of two saves by Ilan Meslier from Darwin Nunez. The French keeper was then equal to a curled effort from 20 yards or so.
Roberto Firmino was also unable to find a way past the Leeds shot-stopper with two efforts of his own; first with a left-footed volley and then a header. Henderson almost squeezed one home at the back post from Nunez's knock-down but Meslier once more had other ideas.
And as it looked as though a frustrating draw was to be the sum of their efforts, Crysencio Summerville gave himself the perfect early gift with a late winner. One suspects the Leeds winger will be spending the entirety of his 21st birthday on Sunday rewatching the winner that brought his club's first win at Anfield since before he was even born, back in April 2001.
Where do Liverpool go from here? The Reds now languish in ninth - closer to the relegation zone than top spot - some 13 points behind leaders Manchester City and eight behind Newcastle United, who occupy the all-important fourth spot.
That will be the most alarming aspect of what is now the table of horrors for Klopp as he looks up at an in-form Newcastle, who are now one of the richest in world football and no doubt ready for another big spending January. How the Reds manager can only dream of such a budget.
That Brighton and Fulham are above them as November creeps in says it all. Four defeats in 12 games this campaign is the form of the also-ran and failure to qualify for next season's Champions League will set this squad back years given the strictly self-sufficient way owners Fenway Sports Group insist this football club must be run.
His current crop look exhausted both from a mental and physical point of view and while injuries have no doubt cut deep across the campaign - most evident here as the Reds toiled up top without Luis Diaz or Diogo Jota in reserve - it goes further than just the unavailability of certain members of the squad.
Having said that, a serious re-think about that FSG-imposed strategy may just be required in the Boston boardroom if Klopp is to salvage this campaign in any sort of way in the New Year.
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