There will be little fondness for the Merseyside derby when Jürgen Klopp is retired and reminiscing on a glittering Liverpool reign. “Not a lot of derbies will be in my book of games to look back on in the future,” he said. “Apart from one or two, it’s never an outstanding game of football.” The 241st edition was outstanding entertainment, however, an enthralling goalless draw that left both Merseyside rivals with cause for regret.
Frank Lampard may take greater encouragement when he evaluates his first managerial point in five meetings against Klopp, even though Everton’s wait for a derby win at Goodison Park stretched to 12 years.
Conor Coady thought he had ended the drought only for VAR to rule out his second-half goal against his boyhood club for offside. To the Everton manager’s chagrin VAR failed to intervene when Virgil van Dijk was only booked for going over the top on Amadou Onana.
Everton remain without a Premier League win but their enterprise in attack, midfield craft and commanding defence suggested they are clearly a team growing under Lampard. Jordan Pickford polished Everton’s resilience with a superb display that included a slight touch on Mohamed Salah’s goalbound shot in the 95th minute. Salah’s effort was diverted on to a post, the third time Liverpool struck the woodwork in total, and unlike previous episodes of late derby despair for Everton the rebound hit Diogo Jota in front of a gaping goal and rolled to safety.
Klopp found consolation in the fact that only extreme misfortune in front of goal and Pickford’s heroics denied his side but there was also much to concern him, including being almost struck by a plastic bottle thrown in the aftermath of Coady’s disallowed goal. Liverpool threatened in patches, with Salah and Luis Díaz often stifled by the full-backs Vitaliy Mykolenko and Nathan Patterson. Darwin Núñez showed glimmers of quality on his return from a three-match ban but also signs of needing time to integrate to Liverpool’s well-drilled patterns. More dropped points, for the fourth time in six games this season, is the bottom-line worry.
Liverpool controlled possession from kick-off but Everton, responding to the fervent atmosphere inside Goodison Park, posed a clear threat whenever they escaped the counterpress. The debutant Neal Maupay and Anthony Gordon troubled Alisson before Tom Davies went close to putting the hosts ahead. The impressive Demarai Gray found the overlapping Patterson for a low cross into Maupay, whose shot was blocked by Van Dijk. The ball broke for Davies who curled a deft touch beyond Alisson but looked on in despair as it kissed a post.
Núñez, Salah, Díaz and Fábio Carvalho were all subdued for the opening 40 minutes. Two Núñez headers off-target were the sum total of their collective threat in that time. But shortly before the break Liverpool roused. Núñez had tried arcing his runs behind Coady and James Tarkowski all game and was rewarded when Joe Gomez’s ball released him in space. The Uruguay international sent an angled shot dipping over Pickford but the Everton goalkeeper reacted superbly to tip it on to the bar. Díaz collected the rebound, stepped inside Coady and curled towards the far corner. Remarkably, the woodwork intervened again as Díaz’s effort struck the inside of a post.
The second half, with Roberto Firmino replacing the injured Carvalho and Idrissa Gana Gueye making a composed second debut for Everton, enthralled. Pickford produced decent saves to deny Harvey Elliott and Núñez and then two excellent stops to thwart Firmino – the first from a drive that was destined for the bottom corner, and the second to deny a bullet header from the Brazilian at the resulting set-piece.
Maupay should have edged Everton ahead when Gray raided down the left and his low cross was turned into the new signing’s path by Gordon.
The goal lay at Maupay’s mercy but his shot lacked conviction and was straight at Alisson. The former Brighton striker appeared to have made amends and written an unbelievable script for Coady midway through the half. Maupay took down Gray’s cross and drilled low across the face of goal, where his teammate was on hand to convert into an unguarded net. Coady and Goodison embarked on tumultuous celebrations only for VAR to find the defender was offside. In their fury one fan ran on to the pitch while another threw a plastic bottle towards Klopp from the top balcony of the Main Stand. Both will be given stadium bans.
Van Dijk was fortunate to escape with a yellow card when he caught Onana’s shin with a dangerous foul. Both teams pressed for a winner and Salah thought he had found it when dispatching Díaz’s pass towards the bottom corner. Pickford, and Everton, were not to be denied.
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