Sunday saw not only the end of Manchester City's unbeaten start to the season but also Erling Haaland's goalscoring streak.
The Norwegian colossus had been on a remarkable ten-game run during which he had plundered 18 goals. That run is even more impressive when considering the only league game he hadn't scored in before Anfield was a home match with Bournemouth where Phil Foden's failure to roll the ball to the No.9 for an open goal was a major talking point.
Haaland did not score against Liverpool though, and in Pep Guardiola's mind City's failure to find the net was not down to a lack of chances created. He disagreed with the idea that his side had lacked their usual fluency in attack, insisting that they had as many as seven chances in front of Alisson from which they could have scored.
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If it may feel difficult to recount as many as seven, there were a number of chances where Haaland looked like he could have scored and probably would on another day. He powered a first-half header at goal only to see it go straight into Alisson's arms, forced a sharp save from the goalkeeper in the second half down to his left with a shot from the edge of the box, and then was ready to turn in a cross only for Virgil van Dijk to cut it out at the last minute.
Liverpool can now boast to have stopped Haaland twice, having also ensured he didn't score in the Community Shield. That game was the last time the 22-year-old had as many chances as he did on Sunday, and back then he definitely should have scored.
There were some wild overreactions to Haaland's misses in the Community Shield, rubbishing him and suggesting he wasn't ready for English football when more sensible onlookers could see from the game that he had already shown signs of slotting into the City team and surely wouldn't miss the chances he got on that day too many other times.
The latter verdict has withstood the last two months far better, with City's striker breaking a slew of Premier League and Champions League records on his way to 20 goals in all competitions so far. Despite blanking on Sunday, a number of other milestones remain firmly in his sights.
Brighton, Dortmund and City's other opponents before the World Cup would do well to remember what happened the last time Haaland didn't score in a game. They can try and replicate what Liverpool and other sides have attempted to constrain him, but ultimately the likelihood is the striker is going to get chances to score and more often than not he is going to take them.
It may be a while before Guardiola is next citing a failure to convert opportunities from his team.
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