The sight of Alisson Becker ambling forward for a late corner was previously the prelude to one of the most incredible moments of Jurgen Klopp's time at Liverpool.
Here, on a risible afternoon in Nottingham, it served only to highlight just how desperate it all was for the Reds. This was a woefully below-par performance and if Jurgen Klopp could point to the identity of his side's conquerors on the road this season as at least being Arsenal and Manchester United as partial mitigation, he will have no real excuse here as lowly, rock-bottom Forest pilfered a 1-0 win.
Liverpool 's wait for a Premier League win at this venue goes on and they got exactly what they deserved on a worryingly poor afternoon that only raises more questions about where this team is at and ultimately where it is heading.
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Steve Cooper is a fine manager, but the ex-Liverpool Academy coach has been struggling to make it work at the City Ground this term after having as many as 22 new players foisted upon him over the summer. They looked a slick, cohesive unit at times here though as their visitors struggled to impose themselves in virtually every area of the pitch. Just who was the recently-promoted team here exactly?
Liverpool's feelgood factor, earned through gritty victories over West Ham on Wednesday and, more pointedly, Manchester City last Sunday - the same one that was meant to provide the basis for a brighter, more optimistic campaign - was eroded across 90 miserable minutes in the Midlands.
What will prove to be an additional irritant for Klopp is the fact that this was a chance to get right back into the shake-up near the top end as Chelsea and Manchester United prepared to square off later that day before Newcastle's visit to Tottenham on Sunday. Consider this opportunity squandered.
Klopp made five changes in total as his hand was again forced by a number of issues for his players. Thiago Alcantara was ruled out with an ear infection as Darwin Nunez failed a fitness test. In came Andy Robertson, Fabinho, Harvey Elliott, James Milner at right-back and Curtis Jones, who made his first start since the 2-1 win at Southampton in May.
Nunez's absence for the game meant that 19 different Reds players had missed at least one game through injury this season. A combination of a unique calendar mixed with the shorter pre-season and the intensity levels demanded under Klopp are clearly taking their toll already. They are limping towards this break for the World Cup.
In a first-half absent of anything really noteworthy on the pitch, Liverpool's best chances came via Fabio Carvalho and Virgil van Dijk at either end of the opening 45 minutes. Carvalho was thwarted by Dean Henderson's legs after bringing down Harvey Elliott's long ball. Van Dijk should have scored with a close-range header that he skewed horribly wide.
The most notable incident in the first half was the quickness with which the Forest support launched into the familiar abusive tropes Liverpool fans are seemingly having to hear every week right now with regards to the Hillsborough tragedy. The match was only five minutes old when they resorted to telling their counterparts that it was 'never their fault' - a cruel jibe with inherent links to the disaster that took the lives of 97 Liverpool fans.
What was most galling is the fact that it could quite so easily have been the Forest fans in the Leppings Lane end back in April 1989. If this particular set of supporters cannot abstain from such disgusting terrace activity then what chance have Reds' followers got of avoiding this issue up and down the country every week? Only lip-service is being paid to calling this behaviour out beyond the Anfield bubble. More needs to be done by English football's authorities.
Forest had their lead 10 minutes into the second half via former Reds striker Taiwo Awoniyi. The Nigerian never came close to breaking into the first team during his six years on the books at Anfield, but has found a home in the Premier League at last with Forest. Awoniyi was on hand to tap into the roof of the net after an initial effort had struck the post and floored Alisson.
The hour mark was the point for Klopp to send on Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson as Milner and Carvalho made way and while the Reds manager's options were understandably stretched, it was a substitution around 15 minutes later that left heads really being scratched.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's last competitive appearance came at this ground back in March, but he was summoned for top scorer Roberto Firmino with the visitors in desperate need of inspiration. It appeared a perplexing decision without the insight of the medical department's analysis and the midfielder's contribution was minimal.
Alexander-Arnold's header was pushed away by Dean Henderson who will be stunned by how underworked he was when he settles down and reflects on Saturday evening. But the on-loan Manchester United keeper was at least forced into a superb save in the closing stages as Van Dijk again found himself unmarked.
Henderson's save was pushed back out into the danger zone and the identity of Liverpool's excuse for a goal-poacher summed it all up. As Alisson tried to poke home a second goal of his Anfield career, he succeeded only in giving away a foul. Unlike at West Brom nearly 18 months ago, there was to be no heroics in front of goal from the Liverpool shot-stopper. It was that sort of day.
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