West Ham United defended everything en route to a first win at Anfield for 52 years so it was fitting that their manager stepped in where few dared to tread afterwards and offered qualified backing for Dejan Lovren.

“If you are telling me Liverpool lost because of Dejan Lovren then no, no, no, no, no,” said Slaven Bilic of the Croatia defender to whom he gave an international debut in 2009 and whose hapless error led to the visitors’ second goal in a momentous triumph. “It was a mistake but a lot of Liverpool players made mistakes.”

Not for the first time on Saturday, and worryingly for Brendan Rodgers, Bilic called it correctly. The defensive resilience behind Liverpool’s encouraging start to a defining campaign dissolved inside three minutes when Martin Skrtel and Joe Gomez both erred for Manuel Lanzini’s opener.

Lovren then returned to the distracted defender of last season to enable Mark Noble to steer West Ham into the comfort zone. But there was more to Liverpool’s first defeat of the season than a howler from a £20m signing who Rodgers claimed would be a “top-class defender” and “a different player” 24 hours earlier.

No invention, no delivery to the front man and, despite working on “exploiting the space down the sides” in training all week according to their manager, no width: Liverpool took an unexpected step back to the worrying form that characterised the tail-end of last season. Rodgers also reverted to the default setting of a three-man defence after 45 minutes with his best-laid plans going awry. Philippe Coutinho’s one-match ban for a needless dismissal, to be served when Liverpool meet Manchester United after the international break, capped a deflating day for a home crowd that booed their team off at half-time and applauded their opponents at full-time. How it was merited.

A travelling supporter would have to be in his or her 60s to recall the last time West Ham won at this ground. The follow-up arrived at the 43rd attempt and was founded on the principles that confounded Arsenal on the opening day and partially explain the scarcity of home wins throughout the Premier League this season.

James Tomkins, Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell formed an impenetrable barrier a week after Bilic’s team conceded four at home to Bournemouth. In front, just in front, Noble and Pedro Obiang worked tirelessly to stifle any dangerous possession while the summer arrivals Lanzini and Dimitri Payet put the Brazilian pair of Coutinho and Roberto Firmino in the shade with their skill and accuracy on the break. Defenders in claret and blue excelled but this was a victory built on an accomplished, composed team performance. Liverpool looked lost in comparison.

“What happened here is so logical,” explained Bilic, bouncing on his toes as he did in the technical area throughout the game. “I can organise. I’m not modest. I know I can organise a team with my staff. This game was perfect for [Diafra] Sakho. He slaughtered them with his pace and the amount of running he did. And he didn’t have space to breathe.

“Sometimes at Anfield if it’s 0-0 after 20 minutes and you get a throw-in you’re happy. In the same situation at home against a not so big club you get that throw-in and you’re rushing it. You’re forcing it. When you force things you make mistakes, in life, not just in football. But we were not forcing. We were 2-0 up and from keeping the ball we suddenly found ourselves one on one with their goalkeeper. For 45 minutes Liverpool tried to get in front of our keeper with one ball but it was impossible.”

Lanzini converted Cresswell’s cross to shatter Liverpool’s aim of a fourth consecutive clean sheet. The Argentina midfielder, signed on a season-long loan from Al Jazira in July, also capitalised on Lovren’s lapse to help create the second for Noble before Sakho gained personal reward with a fine finish into the bottom corner in stoppage time. By then both teams were down to 10 men as a result of stringent refereeing from Kevin Friend.

Coutinho collected yellow cards for dissent and a needless foul on Payet while Noble was harshly dismissed for a tackle on the Liverpool substitute Danny Ings. West Ham are expected to appeal once the rare euphoria from a trip to Anfield has abated.

“Manuel was fantastic and not only because he scored a goal,” the visiting manager said of the former River Plate winger. “Defensively he not only covered the left-back, Gomez, but he cut inside on Coutinho and Milner when he went outside. He was great. When he came in some of the people who were not for him and were for other players were slagging him off and they said he looks more like a jockey than a football player. Maybe, but he rides the challenges.”

Man of the match Winston Reid (West Ham United)