Key events
That’s all from me. Thanks for reading and for your emails. Congratulations to Liverpool. Enjoy the points, Reds. I hope they make you very happy. Cheers!
Arne Slot, Liverpool’s manager, speaks:
They are a very difficult team to play against. Their very good manager has brought them back to life. Their appetite to defend their box, a threat on the counter attack and long throws. Our boys showed immense character to come through today. We created much more than at Goodison. They are really good at blocking shots, and there is no point crossing because their centre backs are so dominant.
Jota scored a great goal. I would be frustrated if we conceded that goal, but the referee applied the rules perfectly. We are in a very good position.
As advertised, here are the five other match reports from tonight’s Premier League matches.
Andy Hunter’s match report from Anfield
“Getting a combined high here in Naples by watching an Ozric Tentacles gig and getting the good news of a Liverpool victory from your esteemed organ,” writes Colum Fordham. “Much needed after Liverpool’s recent setbacks in the Champions League and that underwhelming (for us fans) final”.
Ya big show off, Colum. Naples! Rock Music! And now this!
Regarding the potential offside for Diaz in the lead up to Liverpool’s goal, Sky Sports have found the official terminology of the rules, and this perhaps explains why VAR did not disallow the winner.
Despite being a distraction for Tarkowski, Diaz did not move towards the goal and the rule states that VAR should only intervene if a player is “clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent”. Diaz did not do that.
That said, I think it’s a grey area as Tarkowski was obviously affected by Diaz. Moyes was evidently not happy.
Everton manager David Moyes is next to face the cameras:
The player behind Tarkowski [Diaz] is clearly offside. That’s a very easy decision to make. Liverpool were the better team but we showed great resilience, made some chances. It’s just gut-wrenching that we have lost to a goal that we don’t feel is deserved.
This is our first defeat in 10 games. Liverpool are the best team in the league. Maybe in the future, we’ll be a bit closer to them.
“I’m not sure why Pickford gets to kick Nunez and nothing happens because the whistle has gone,” emails Gareth Wilson. “Pretty sure kicking other people isn’t allowed at any time in football”.
That’s a fair point.
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk speak to the cameras:
Everton make it very difficult for you. They have a certain way of playing. You have to be ready for it. They are very direct. The first half was not the greatest but Diogo made a fantastic goal. There wasn’t a hangover from the Goodison derby. We didn’t watch much video from that game.
Goalscorer Diogo Jota is also there to chime in:
Hopefully this gives us a bit of momentum. I want this game to start a good run for me that could be helpful for the team. The only way is to start winning games.
Here are a run down of the five other Premier League results. Match reports will be live on the website shortly.
Bournemouth 1-2 Ipswich Town
Brighton 0-3 Aston Villa
Manchester City 2-0 Leicester City
Newcastle 2-1 Brentford
Southampton 1-1 Crystal Palace
Slot with a rare show of emotion there, fistpumping his way down the tunnel. This was not a vintage performance but Liverpool’s fans are ecstatic, as well they might be. Not only do they take the bragging rights, but this is what the result does to the table.
Full-time: Liverpool 1-0 Everton
The Reds regain their 12-points lead at the top of the Premier League! A huge result!
90+6 min: Corner to Everton! And here comes Pickford, up from the back! But the deep delivery is wayward and a whistle is sounded for a foul. Liverpool are nearly there!
90+5 min: Everton are finally starting to pump it long. A searching cross to the back post is expertly cleared by Liverpool’s makeshift right-back, Jones. Oooof.
90+4 min: Liverpool make another change: Endo for Salah.
90+2 min: Everyone looks knackered in fairness. This has not been the highest quality Merseyside derby, but both sides have run around a lot.
90 min: Six minutes added on! Everton had better get a shift on!
87 min: A bizarre sequence! Iroegbunam clatters Szoboszlai in midfield and referee Sam Barrott awards a free-kick. But the whistle is not heard and some of the players play on, with Pickford rushing out to boot Nunez. The ball is already dead, but had it not been, that would surely have been a penalty with Nunez just nipping in to beat the Everton goalkeeper to the ball. Both Pickford and Nunez protest their innocence, before the referee explains that the whistle had already gone. In the aftermath Nunez is booked! I think that was for unsporting behaviour: the Uruguayan rolled back onto the pitch to receive treatment after Pickford’s kick. That slowed the game down.
85 min: More changes from both sides. For Liverpool, Diaz comes off for Gakpo. Everton bring on a striker, Chermiti, for Doucouré.
83 min: Everton simply can’t get any time on the ball. They have had 20% possession in this second half.
81 min: Diaz goes close! In not dissimilar circumstances to Jota’s goal, the Colombian cuts nicely inside from the left and flashed a fierce shot towards Pickford’s near post. But this time, an Everton defender (Branthwaite?) got an important block in.
79 min: Salah has been sooooooo quiet. Not sure I’ve mentioned him more than once?
Curtis Jones, on the other hand, has been very tidy at right back.
77 min: Everton respond with a triple change of their own: Broja for Beto, Alcaraz for Young and Garner for Iroegbunam.
75 min: Liverpool make their first change: Jota is replaced by Nunez. Probably a sensible thing with the Portuguese on a booking.
73 min: “If that goal was offside, let’s say Tarkowski was testing the quality of his studs on MacAllister’s kneecap,” emails Kev The Poet.
Absolutely! Tarkowski should have been sent off. But I do think Diaz was offside in the run up to that Liverpool goal. Anyway, onwards.
71 min: After a Konaté error, Everton win two corners. Kelleher punches behind the first and from the second, Mac Allister wrestles with Tarkowski at the back post! It’s a complete mis-match, obviously, but Mac Allister makes no attempt to play the ball. There’s probably not enough for an Everton penalty, but Liverpool were living dangerously. And being so dominant in this game, they have little need to do that.
68 min: Liverpool have dominated the ball since the goal: a whopping 89% of possession here. Everton make a change: Harrison off, the talented Ndiaye on.
66 min: “What!? Diaz was just standing there,” Joe Pearson emails regarding my comments about the idea of Liverpool’s goal being disallowed for offside. “[Diaz] made no play for the ball or interfered with Tarkowski in any way. It’s not his fault that Tarkowski makes an absolutely dreadful clearance. No way that should have been ruled out”.
I would argue that Tarkowski would never have gone to ground, sliding as he did to clear the ball. He would either have controlled it, or let the ball run through to Pickford. Diaz’s presence in an offside position hurried him into that slide. Watch it again.
64 min: Jota is unlucky not to win a free-kick deep in Everton territory and gives the linesman both barrels after he awards the visitors a throw-in. The Liverpool goalscorer is cautioned for his subsequent dissent, which is probably justified. It should also be said that Jota started sarcastically applauding the officials after his yellow card was issued. It would have been very petty, but the Liverpool forward was maybe a little lucky not to get a second yellow, there!
61 min: Everton must respond now, and they have half an hour to find an equaliser.
59 min: Having watched a few replays, I’m absolutely astounded that goal has not been chalked off! Diaz is clearly offside in the lead up, and his presence there makes Tarkowski make an errant clearance. From there, Liverpool finish the move well, but it’s remarkable that that wasn’t brought back by VAR. Sorry to be a spoil-sport, I just can’t see how you can say that Diaz wasn’t interfering with play.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Everton (Jota 57)
Diaz plays a neat one-two with Jota, who skips around Tarkowski and from the penalty spot, wrongfoots Pickford with a shot into the bottom left corner! Jota’s first goal in 10 games and Anfield erupts! The noise is absolutely deafening!
55 min: Everton break again, this time with Harrison. He has two options to his right – Beto and Alcaraz – but the Englishman instead just punts the ball hopefully through to Kelleher. Poor from Harrison.
53 min: Liverpool are having problems breaking Everton down, so Gravenberch zings a dipping, curling effort from range and forces Pickford into a good save down to his left!
51 min: Better from Everton! Harrison finds Alcaraz, who strides forward with purpose and catching Liverpool’s midfield out of position. The Argentinian feeds Beto, who flashes a low cross back towards Alcaraz … just too strong! That was an excellent break from Everton.
49 min: “Sometimes referees just get things wrong,” emails Ben Wilkinson. “But if Tarkowski scores another improbable worldie in the dying moments of this game, I’ll have no choice but to fashion a tinfoil hat and declare a conspiracy.”
47 min: Liverpool are now kicking towards the Kop. Everton are twice forced to defend two excellent Liverpool corners to their near post. Pickford flaps and is grateful for Tarkowski for winning the aerial contest.
Peeeeeeeeep!
We’re underway again at Anfield.
Half-time reading:
I should mention that Beto received a yellow card in that first half for kicking the ball away after a free-kick. Missed that, apols.
Half-time: Liverpool 0-0 Everton
An even half. Liverpool had the bulk of the possession but Everton had the best chance to score.
45+2 min: Once again, a hopeful clearance from Everton results in chaos in Liverpool’s defence as Beto gets the better of Konate, lays the ball back to Alcaraz, whose shot is deflected behind for a corner. It is Everton who are ending this half the stronger.
45 min: Four minutes added on, owing to the treatment for Mac Allister and the lengthy VAR check for Beto’s disallowed goal.
44 min: Gravenberch tries his luck from range, his shot is deflected wildly by an outstretched Tarkowski boot, but it falls kindly to Pickford. That could have gone anywhere.
42 min: Everton are nearly undone by a Beckham-esque deep cross from Gravenberch, with Tarkowski doing wonderfully well to hook the ball away from Jota. Harrison makes a meal of controlling the ball at the back post, but Robertson can’t capitalise.