Andoni Iraola arrived in Istanbul seeking improvement from Liverpool’s attack but departed with sudden cause for concern at the opposite end of the pitch. Fenerbahce ignited Dirk Kuyt’s interim spell with a tumultuous victory after Liverpool detonated their 100% Champions League record with several defensive lapses.

Liverpool’s second successive defeat left Iraola exasperated for entirely different reasons to Sunday’s loss to Arsenal. Blame was found only in the mirror this time around. It was so careless and so unnecessary.

The visitors led twice, through Trey Nyoni’s first senior goal and a header from substitute Alexander Isak, but Fenerbahce twice hit back quickly and snatched victory when Vedat Muriqi emerged as the strongest player from a pack of red shirts. Fenerbahce’s first goal came from a free-kick, their second from a corner and their third from a long throw-in.

“Cheap goals, messy goals,” as the Liverpool head coach put it. “We knew set pieces were one of the strengths of Fenerbahce. We have been dealing with them well, both this season and today, it has been something we have been working on since pre-season, but it cost us today. The last goal was maybe because they are strong and tall but the other two we have to control better.”

Ronald Araújo resting on the bench offers one explanation for Liverpool’s weak defensive display but does not cover every fault. The visitors enjoyed large spells of control and, despite an anonymous display from Bradley Barcola as the central striker, should never have given hope to an ageing, average Fenerbahce side packed with familiar names from the Premier League.

As expected, Turkish supporters tested the eardrums with incessant whistling whenever Liverpool took possession. They were a test for structural engineers too with their constant bouncing in the upper tier of the home end. Liverpool sought to dilute the atmosphere by controlling possession. Rio Ngumoha was prominent and N’Golo Kanté should have been booked for halting one promising run by leaping on the teenager’s back. Referee Clément Turpin was in a lenient mood with both sides.

Fenerbahce had struggled to hold up play in the Liverpool half or create a chance of note when Archie Brown exposed the visiting defence with a superb ball from left-back. The pass sailed over the struggling Kostas Tsimikas and was controlled well by Mason Greenwood, before he was pushed over by the Liverpool defender. Neither Turpin nor the video assistant referee deemed it a penalty kick.

The decibel levels cranked up and went even higher when Liverpool took the lead moments later. Ngumoha was heavily involved with a darting run and shot that was charged down into the path of Dominik Szoboszlai. Brown, under pressure from Virgil van Dijk, headed the midfielder’s cross clear but only as far as Nyoni. The young midfielder swept a low volley beyond Ederson with the aid of a slight deflection off Kojo Peprah Oppong. It was a memorable milestone in the continued rise of Nyoni; the first goal of his career at the highest level.

It was also the cue for Fenerbahce to rouse themselves. The hosts almost levelled straight from the restart when Brown’s low centre was turned against Alisson’s crossbar by Irfan Can Kahveci, who may have been ruled offside. They did not have to wait long for the equaliser. After Szoboszlai was penalised for a foul on Kanté, Greenwood’s resulting free-kick took a huge deflection off Jérémy Jacquet’s stomach and sailed past the wrongfooted Alisson. The Liverpool keeper did not hide his anger at Jacquet turning away from the free-kick and leaving a costly hole in the wall.

The second half mirrored the first with Liverpool in control until scoring and provoking a reaction from the Turkish side. Substitutes Cody Gakpo and Isak had only been on the pitch three minutes when they combined to restore the visitors’ advantage, the Swedish striker heading past Ederson from Gakpo’s left-wing cross.

But Fenerbahce again levelled swiftly when Kanté swept in a cross following a corner and Gakpo, attempting to head clear, glanced the ball away from Alisson’s grasp to give Brown a simple tap-in at the back post. “In the stadium it was almost impossible to communicate,” Iraola admitted. “It was difficult for me to give instructions and the communication must have been difficult between Cody and Ali.”

Worse was to come for Liverpool when Birmingham-born Brown looped a cross into the heart of Liverpool’s box. Muriqi, a second-half replacement for Romelu Lukaku, managed to hold off three Liverpool players – Jacquet, Alexis Mac Allister and Nyoni – and plant a header into the bottom corner. Iraola added: “It’s so frustrating because this is a difficult place to play and we were winning twice. We need to look at how we conceded the goals.”