Liverpool fans own the bragging rights of the city once again as they defeated Rafael Benitez’s blues 4-1 on their own soil in the Merseyside Derby.
Jurgen Klopp’s side looked like they were running away with it in the first 20 minuets as they went two nil up thanks to a beautiful left footed finish from captain Jordan Henderson and a trademark goal from Mohamed Salah.
It could and should have been game over, but The Reds let Everton back in it as Demarai Gray was put through in goal due to a delicious through ball from Richarlison and he reduced the deficit to one.
The Goodison faithful were up for it then and it seemed the players were as the game turned much more into a contest.
In the second half it was again a much more even game, a proper derby you could say with both sets of fans nervous and excited.
That was until Seamus Coleman presented Salah with a present on the halfway line.
Salah ran all the way through and slotted the ball past Pickford with ease.
15 minutes later Diogo Jota arguably scored the best of the lot as he got past Allan in the box and smashed the ball home to make sure the result was not in doubt.
The majority of home fans went home whilst the away fans sang every song they could to wind their bitter rivals up, including the name of their once Champions League winning manager who was sat in the home dugout.
A tough one to take to say the least for Evertonians as their side stay in 14th place just five points of the bottom three.
Liverpool remain in third two points off top spot.
Remarkably that victory for Liverpool now means they have more Merseyside derby wins at Goodison Park than Everton do.
Player ratings
Everton
Jordan Pickford: 6
Was extremely busy in the opening half an hour making some brilliant saves to stop Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane. Dealt with all the corners well but could be argued that for Salah’s second goal he should have done better.
Seamus Coleman: 1
A game Coleman will never want to be reminded of. Effectively lost Everton the game when he set up Salah for his second. Was ran ragged.
Ben Godfrey: 6
Done extremely well on a couple of occasions to block Sadio Mane’s goal bound efforts. Much improved from Sunday.
Michael Keane: 4
Couldn’t cope with the front three but not many defenders can when they are in this type of form to be fair to him. Needs to improve though.
Lucas Digne: 2
Hardly done better than his full-back teammate. Starting to become a regular issue for Everton this season and he gets ripped to shreds by anyone who attempts to take him on which was emphasised by Henderson’s cheeky nutmeg in the second half.
Allan: 4
Outran in the midfield but was outnumbered due to Benitez’s persistence of going with two in the middle of the park.
Abdoulaye Doucoure: 3
Had a massive chance to equalise just before half-time but scuffed his effort. Like Allan was outran by Liverpool’s three in midfield.
Andros Townsend: 3
Another really poor display as he was again ineffective. Got booked for a shocking dive as well.
Demarai Gray: 7
Was Everton’s best player which is no real surprise. Caused Alexander-Arnold a couple of issues early on and then got his goal to make the game a contest. Did also get booked for diving though which is a shame.
Richarlison: 6
Looked lively and up for it as he always is in this fixture. His assist for Gray was a pinpoint pass. Was nullified in the second half.
Salomon Rondon: 4.5
Was a nuisance for Joel Matip all game. An injury cut short his night which meant Everton had no focal point up top which dented their chances of getting an equaliser at the time.
Substitutions:
Anthony Gordon (Salomon Rondon 59): 3
Couldn’t do anything to make a difference in the game.
Fabian Delph (Andros Townsend 73): 4
Another decent cameo helped bring some control into the midfield. Needs to start in a three with Allan and Doucoure.
Cenk Tosun (Demarai Gray 85): N/A
First Premier League minutes this season. Touched the ball three times.
Liverpool
Alisson: 6
Didn’t have much to do apart from the goal which he maybe should have done better with. Kicked a plastic bottle back into the Everton fans which is all part of the fun of this fixture.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 7
Came close with a long-range effort. Was a solid defensive performance and some of his passes were ludicrously good.
Joel Matip: 4
Missed a free header in the first few minutes and struggled in the game especially due to the long balls Everton played to Rondon.
Virgil Van Dijk: 6.5
Won most of his aerial duels and coped with most that came his way. For some reason took a free-kick off Alexander-Arnold to just fire it into the wall.
Andy Robertson: 8
Got two assists and looks back to his best. The first one was for Henderson’s goal and the second was for Jota’s. Both were fine passes.
Fabinho: 6
Was as reliable as ever in front of the backline. Helped control the tempo.
Jordan Henderson: 10
A classic performance on the old foes ground. A sumptuous curling effort on his weaker foot to open the scoring and a lovely through ball to set Salah away for the second. Ran the game in the middle of the park. A perfect performance.
Thiago: 7
Works so well next to Fabinho. Got stuck in which was great to see but also the neat and tidiness of his game was still there for all to witness.
Mohamed Salah: 9
Two goals again. The first was identical to the one on one he missed with Pickford a few seasons ago when the goalkeeper got the better of him. This time Pickford had no chance. For the second goal there was also another flashback as it was very similar to Luis Suarez’s goal in the 4-0 victory from the 2013/14 season as the pair both ran half of the field before scoring.
Diogo Jota: 7
Getting better with every game. His goal was a thunderous strike to put the icing on top of a top performance in the false nine role.
Sadio Mane: 6
Probably should have got on the scoresheet has he had two attempts blocked and a long-range effort saved. Tormented Coleman all night.
Substitutions:
James Milner (Thiago 75): 4
Helped keep the ball for the last 15 minutes.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Jordan Henderson 83): 3
Barely had anything to do.
Takumi Minamino (Diogo Jota 88): N/A
Touched the ball twice.
