On the pitch itself at full time, Arne Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff received their marching orders for an angry interaction with referee Michael Oliver. Curtis Jones, meanwhile, scuffled with Abdoulaye Doucoure which also led to two red cards as dozens of Everton fans streamed on to the pitch.
Behind the scenes, catering staff hummed Spirit of the Blues as the coffees were poured, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, hugged friends with a smile as wide as the River Mersey and two officials in club suits spoke about this being “the best point we’ve ever earned” outside the boardroom.
And somewhere, hidden behind the thick Blue weeds of 40,000 Everton fans crooning along to Elton John, as Goodison Park took in its final moments of the Merseyside derby, was Liverpool extending their Premier League advantage at the top to seven points.
Never, though, could doing that have felt like such a sucker punch. “It felt like a loss,” admitted one Reds player in the bowels of the Goodison tunnel. And, for now at least, there will be few arguing otherwise.
The anger and the shock was writ large on the faces of the Reds players as they made their exit and more than a couple aired their private frustrations at it all as they traipsed their route towards the team bus.
How much clarity a cooling-off period brings we shall see, but for now, Liverpool could do worse than hanging on to the anger at not getting this attritional affair over the line. It could, in time, hold them in good stead as they hone in on league title No.20.
The measure of hope that this will inspire in North London as Mikel Arteta plots a way back to the summit without his first-choice Arsenal attack for the foreseeable future remains to be seen, but the neutrals might at least thank James Tarkowski for lashing home the most dramatic of stoppage-time levellers to keep alive some semblance of a Premier League title race.
On Liverpool's most recent visit here, back in April, a 2-0 defeat was soundtracked by the home fans informing their visitors, with understandable relish, that they had just "lost the league at Goodison Park".
Some 10 months later, on the evening of their final-ever excursion across Stanley Park no less, those in the away ends were dusting off a rendition that declared the exact opposite before Tarkowski handed Arsenal a huge reprieve, which led to the sort of celebrations rarely seen for last-gasp draws.
That's not to sneer at the joy felt by those in Royal Blue, however. Tarkowski's howitzer will become something of an iconic moment for this fixture from the Blues' perspective and the 120th edition of this local skirmish sees it end honours even at this venue with 41 wins apiece.
A lack of quality all evening meant it's worth questioning if the visitors deserved to win anyway but their character was at least there when called upon. Other teams might have wilted under the Goodison lights having conceded early.
Liverpool were caught napping for the opener as Beto pounced on Jarrad Branthwaite’s free-kick before sliding past Alisson Becker. But if that goal arrived almost out of nothing, so did the equaliser as Alexis Mac Allister planted a header past Jordan Pickford after Mohamed Salah’s cross had looped up into the area.
The remainder of the half was largely characterised by something that resembled throwback football, with both sets of players seemingly forgetting to play all together in their efforts to leave one on one another.
Mac Allister, Conor Bradley and Luis Diaz were all guilty in Liverpool red, while Everton had Idrissa Gueye and Doucoure booked by referee Oliver. It was the sort of scrappy football that served little purpose for Slot’s men. It's not their forte and it showed.
The Reds were dragged into the sort of dogfight Everton relished and the whistle-happy Oliver struggled to let the match flow. The levels of volatility slowly grew with every decision as the quality of the actual football dipped to alarming lows for a side with just one defeat all season.
It led to a disjointed performance from the visitors but having introduced Darwin Nunez and Jones from the bench, they still had enough quality to carve out what appeared the decisive chance when the latter's shot was headed into the path of Salah to tuck home on 73 minutes.
You'll Never Walk Alone briefly rang around Goodison in stoppage time before it was drowned out by deafening boos and it appeared as though Slot's side were taking a major stride towards their overriding ambitions for the campaign in the sweetest way possible.
That was, of course, until Tarkowski's intervention in the 98th minute, which was awarded after what felt like an interminable wait to check first for an offside and then a push on Ibrahima Konate.
As a result of the red cards, the post-match press conference was a non-event, with neither Slot nor Hulshoff permitted to undertake media duties due to Premier League rules. Friday's meeting with the media to preview Sunday's visit from Wolves has just become appointment viewing.
A new era now awaits for the Merseyside derby at Bramley Moore then, and it might be some time before it sees one as explosive as this.
