The Merseyside Derby never disappoints. Liverpool and Everton duked it out in one of the most exciting and grueling Merseyside Derbies in a while, even though neither team scored a goal.
This game was a battle from the very first minute to the very last minute, which was to be expected when Liverpool and Everton play one another. In truth, I think the Merseyside Derby may be the most entertaining derby matchup in the Premier League, even if the quality on the pitch is not always at the highest level.
And, as I said, this game didn’t disappoint.
Even though Liverpool had the majority of possession (61%-39%) and nine more shots on target (23-14) than Everton, this was anyone’s game to win. Both sets of players were going in for every second ball, every 50-50 ball, and didn’t miss any opportunities to tackle their opponents.
Anthony Gordon’s foul on Konstantinos Tsimikas around the 23-26’ish mark (I forget when it happened exactly) signified the mindset of every Liverpool and Everton player today. The ball was just cleared out of the Liverpool box and was hanging in the air. Tsimikas, the closer of the two to the ball, was easily going to trap it and send it back in, even with Gordon on his heels.
Essentially, Gordon didn’t have a chance at getting to the ball before Tsimikas
Nevertheless, the young Evertonian star (who Chelsea wanted to buy for 60-80M) still slammed into him and drove his elbow into Tsimikas ribs, causing the Liverpool fullback to cry out in pain. Obviously, the ref saw it and called a foul on Gordon, but Liverpool was unable to capitalize on the ensuing free kick.
Why does this insignificant foul matter? Because it shows the desire that every Everton player, even their 80M stars, had. They were willing to fight for every inch in order to beat Liverpool.
This was a battle, not a football match.
And the first hammer blow almost came on the 31′ mark as Nathan Patterson, Everton’s new right fullback, stole the ball from Fabio Carvahlo (who’s been every impressive for Liverpool so far) right on the edge of Liverpool’s box, whipped in a cross that got deflected by Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, then tipped by Neal Maupay (another new Everton signing), only to fall to Tom Davis, who side-footed the ball off the post.
Would that goal have gone against the run of play? Probably, but it was Everton’s hard work and aggressive pressure on Liverpool’s midfield that caused the whole situation.
Anyway, Liverpool didn’t sit idly by as only a few minutes later, Darwin Nunez masterfully took the ball out of the air with his chest and volleyed a lopping shot on goal, causing Jordan Pickford to dive backwards to just get the slightest of touches on the ball to send if off the crossbar.
Though, his heroics were almost all for naught as Luis Diaz snatched the rebound, cut back inside, and rifled a shot off the post again.
The whole of Goodison were on their feet, first screaming at the Everton players to clear the ball, then cheering when their hometown side survived Liverpool’s flurries, as Everton made it to halftime tied 0-0. It really was some of the best football I’ve seen so far in the Premier League.
Nonetheless, if any of the Everton fans thought that Liverpool would come out easy against them to start the second half, they were dead wrong. From the 45th minute to about the 70th minute, Liverpool threw everything they had against Everton’s backline. Tsmikas missed a wide-open goal on the 48′, Fabinho rifled a shot right on the 63’ish minute that Pickford saved, and Nunez had a few close misses too.
If Pickford wasn’t on his game today, Liverpool could have scored 3-4 in those 20ish minutes of domination. That’s how important Everton’s captain was for them today.
And Pickford’s heroics was rewarded on the 70′ minute as yet another new Everton signing, center-back Conor Coady, scored for Everton! The goal came from a Maupay cross that he somehow managed to squeak by James Milner, which then shot past 3-4 Liverpool defenders to find Coady on the back post, who had a simple tap in.
Every single Everton player, fan, and staff member went into a frenzy as they had taken the lead against their arch-rivals with only twenty minutes to go. Or so they thought.
The VAR refs down in London signaled for the referee to look at the monitor as it turned out that Coady was AHEAD of the ball before it was played, thus making him offside. I’m sure you can guess the utter dejection Everton fans and players suffered when they heard that.
Still, nearly going down a goal didn’t break Liverpool’s spirits as they continued to attack, and even managed to hit the post for their THIRD time of the game with a Mo Salah shot in stoppage time.
Yet, they couldn’t find a way to bundle that chance into the net, even though the rebound fell to Diogo Jota, who had an empty net to shot but miskicked.
And so, the first Merseyside Derby of the season finished 0-0.
This point was absolutely massive for Everton as, even though they are still yet to win a game, they now are out of the Bottom-3 on goal difference. With the newfound spirit Everton plays with (they have now draw back-to-back games against Leeds and Liverpool), and the emergence of Anthony Gordon as a viable goal scoring/creating star on the wing, Frank Lampard may yet see Everton to safety again and save his job.
As for Liverpool, they have now dropped points for the fourth time this season, and it’s not even October. Just to put that in perspective, Liverpool dropped points in ten games across the whole of last season.
Are they out of the title race? I wouldn’t say that just yet as Manchester City also dropped points today and Arsenal are playing a resurgent Manchester United tomorrow. City and Arsenal’s (potential) blunders may bail out the Reds’ poor performance this weekend, but they definitely won’t keep doing that all season long. These teams are just too consistent.
Liverpool desperately needs Mo Salah and the rest of Liverpool’s attack to sharpen up and start scoring goals against tough opponents, or they will fall out of the title race before October.
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