Everton 2 – 0 Liverpool
Everton produced a barn-storming performance on a dramatic night under the lights at Goodison Park to move eight points clear of the relegation zone and put a huge dent in Liverpool’s League title hopes.
Against the backdrop of a pulsating atmosphere, Jarrad Branthwaite pounced in the 27th minute to put the Blues ahead and while Jordan Pickford’s heroics at one end protected the precious advantage, Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed home the killer second goal at the other 13 minutes into the second half.
Luis Diaz came the closest to opening the door for the reds in Jürgen Klopp’s last Merseyside derby when he fired off the upright with 20 minutes to go but it always felt as though Everton were in control on a memorable occasion, where Sean Dyche’s men became the first Toffees team to beat Liverpool at home since 2010.
Given the miserable history of this fixture for those of a Blue persuasion, this was a game that many had written off, with the greater attention being paid to the supposedly more winnable clash with Brentford on Saturday. Dyche, however, had called for a typical derby display and, having set the team up perfectly, he got one in spades as Everton came out with high-octane intensity.
With greater composure from Abdoulaye Doucouré, the Toffees might have grabbed the lead as early as the third minute but when the ball broke to him via a deflection off Ibrahima Konaté, the Frenchman side-footed disappointingly wide with a reflex effort.
Everton then thought they had been awarded a penalty when Alisson Becker upended Calvert-Lewin in the Liverpool box but the striker had been slightly offside when he latched on to Jack Harrison’s smart ball in with the outside of his boot.
A terrific, goal-saving intervention by Ben Godfrey, who had been preferred to Ashley Young at right-back, cleared Mohamed Salah’s volleyed pass out of his own six-yard box in the 10th minute and took a tap-in away from Darwin Nuñez but it was Everton who were carrying the greater threat, terrorising the visitors’ defence from dead-ball situations.
Godfrey should have done better with a header at the back post that he put a couple of yards wide and Calvert-Lewin forced the first save from Alisson with a header but it all came together in chaotic fashion when another Dwight McNeil free-kick was only partially cleared and James Tarkowski hooked it back into the box.
Harrison cushioned it square to Godfrey, his shot pinged off Andrew Robertson and then Curtis Jones before Alexis Mac Allister miscued horribly to Branthwaite who squeezed a shot under the goalkeeper and in off the post, with Calvert-Lewin sliding in to make sure as the ball squirmed over the line.
Goodison erupted but the goal sparked a sustained spell of Liverpool pressure from then until the end of a first half that was elongated by six minutes of time added on for stoppages.
Nuñez was played in and seemed odds-on to score but Pickford made himself big and blocked his shot and England’s No.1 was there again in the 44th minute when the Uruguayan striker nodded the ball into path of Diaz and Pickford quickly adjusted his feet to stop the goal-bound effort in superb fashion.
He was called into action one final time in a frenetic close to the opening half when he beat away Robertson’s low cross and Everton went into the break a goal up and worthy leaders.
Having hobbled through the final few minutes of the half after rolling his ankle, Vitalii Mykolenko was replaced at the interval by Ashley Young but far from the anticipated onslaught from Klopp’s men, it was Everton who had the chances in the first quarter of a hour after the restart.
Calvert-Lewin eschewed the chance to send Harrison away down the right, opting instead for an ambitious attempt to lob Alisson from the centre-circle, and a really promising counter-attack led by Doucouré ended with Harrison teeing up Idrissa Gueye in the box but the goalscoring hero from Sunday against Nottingham Forest choked his effort this time and rolled into the keeper’s arms.
Still the Blues came forward, though, and when McNeil stung Alisson’s palms with a thunderous drive from outside the box, the Brazilian’s save led to the 58th-minute corner from which Dyche’s side doubled their advantage in scenes very much evocative of Joe Royle’s first game in charge almost 30 years ago.
McNeil swung a trademark delivery to the back post where Trent Alexander-Arnold completely lost Calvert-Lewin and the striker rose unchallenged to power a downward header into the goal to send the home fans into delirium.
Another McNeil shot was blocked by the last man and Branthwaite nodded wide after Tarkowski had headed the ball invitingly back across goal from yet another dangerous set-piece at one end while a welcome slice of fortune at the other ensured that Liverpool would not find a route back into the contest in the closing stages.
Diaz twisted and turned in front of Godfrey before smacking a shot off the face of the post while in the 79th minute, the off-key Salah spooned a shot over after the ball had ricocheted into his path around 11 yards out from goal.
Young wasted the chance to put the icing on the cake when he belted an awful free-kick wide with a minute left of the 90 but there were to more chance for Pickford to dazzle, first when Harvey Elliott chested the ball down and sent a dipping volley searching for the net but the Everton keeper palmed it over acrobatically and then when he dived to his left to parry a Salah volley to safety.
Just nine days ago, Dyche and his team were deservedly having their credentials and their appetite for the fight against relegation questioned following that dreadful 6-0 defeat at Chelsea.
A 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in a must-win game has been followed by a massive result against the enemy from across the Park that will stand in stark relief as a moment to be treasured in a season that has been desperately short on highlights.
Matters off the pitch remain worryingly in flux but, for a few days at least, Evertonians can bask in a memorable victory on another seismic night in terms of the battles at either end of the Premier League table.