Michael Essien was the player in question and the incident involved prolonged wrangling over a decision in the 73rd minute. Styles attracts sympathy purely because the badgering of him by John Terry and others had, as is so often the case when Chelsea are at work, been frequent. There will be complaints about that, yet the proud obstinacy of these visitors has to be recognised as well.
There never was a sense, following the interval, that they would necessarily be downed by Liverpool. The 62nd-minute penalty came when the substitute Claudio Pizarro sent an incisive pass down the right to Shaun Wright-Phillips. As the winger's low cross ran along the face of the area, Florent Malouda, attempting a dummy to the benefit of Didier Drogba, jumped and turned, making himself as responsible as Steve Finnan for the contact. Frank Lampard, undistracted by shame, slotted the penalty smoothly.
When Jose Mourinho emerged later, he raised again the extremely questionable goal from Luis Garcia that eliminated Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final of 2005. Any sweep would have been won by the person guessing that the Portuguese would launch into the topic within moments of yesterday's penalty being raised.
Nevertheless, when the bickering is over, few will claim that the result itself was a travesty. John Arne Riise might have scored for Liverpool and John Terry, returning from injury, could have forced a Lampard free-kick over the line. If Didier Drogba had enjoyed one of his superhuman moments, he could have claimed an earlier equaliser instead of heading Wright-Phillips's cross wide from beyond the far post.
If Liverpool can stop themselves from recycling this fixture endlessly in their minds, they will reach some sort of serenity by dwelling on Fernando Torres's first competitive goal for the club on his Anfield debut.
There was an immediate satisfaction for Rafael Benítez in the banishment of any fear that the £26.5m striker would begin his Premier League career with a long and much publicised wait to get off the mark.
Better still, it was a goal that would most likely have been beyond Liverpool's scope had they not bought the Atlético Madrid attacker. Steven Gerrard, particularly impressive considering his fractured toe, hit a good pass down the left towards Torres in the 16th minute. If Tal Ben Haim imagined he was in command of the situation, he was disabused of the idea in explosive fashion.
There was speed as Torres went outside the Israeli, then conviction and delicacy as he opened up his body to roll a right-footed shot across Petr Cech and into the net at the far post. It turns out that there can still be Thierry Henry goals in England even if the Frenchman has decamped to Camp Nou.
While Chelsea had no such star quality, they are in an engrossing phase. Mourinho's concept of innovation would not previously have embraced a trend that entailed his men conceding the first goal in the three Premier League fixtures with which their season has begun. The manager will tolerate that, or pretend to do so, because there is a suppleness to the side he is developing.
The system was fluid and, while there were periods when it resembled the old 4-1-3-2 formation, there is a key difference in having the versatile Mikel John Obi rather than the magnificent specialist Claude Makelele in the holding role. If the younger man cannot be the guardian of the back four to the same extent, he should make a more varied contribution to the team.
Liverpool and Chelsea cannot be sure what they will become but there is no doubt that an abrasive rivalry will continue.
Man of the match Fernando Torres
No one could dominate a fixture as hard-bitten as this but the debutant came up with the most memorable contribution.
Best moment The pace, confidence and refinement of the goal that put Liverpool ahead.