Everton 2-0 Liverpool: Gut-wrenching Goodison Park defeat for Reds

Liverpool lost 2-0 to Everton in the Merseyside derby to move further away from the Premier League title

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool seemed to have found their form back after a 3-1 win at Craven Cottage against Fulham, and knew that a win was vital at Goodison Park to keep their title ambitions alive.

There was good reason for the Reds to be confident heading into this fixture, as the last time Everton beat Liverpool at Goodison Park was back in the 2010-11 season, when Tim Cahill, and ironically, Mikel Arteta scored the goals for the Toffees.

Liverpool opted to make changes from their win at Fulham, bringing in six changes with; Ibrahima Konate, Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez all starting.

It was a disappointing start yet again for the Reds, as they escaped an early penalty and potential red card for Alisson thanks to an offside, confirmed by VAR.

They wouldn’t get so lucky the second time around, however, as Jarrad Branthwaite put the Toffees ahead after some really poor defending from Liverpool, who were seemingly unable to clear the ball out of their own box.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin poached home the strike and most assumed it was the no.9’s goal, but goal-line technology confirmed the ball had already crossed the line from Branthwaite’s effort on goal which went in off of the post.

Liverpool found themselves behind in, yet again, another match, chasing a goal at Goodison Park at the interval. The Reds manager didn’t make any changes at half-time, feeling confident enough in his team to turn the Merseyside derby around.

And it wasn’t as if the Reds didn’t have the chances in the first half to not just equalise but lead at the break. Nunez and Luis Diaz had the most clear cut chances to score, but failed to beat Jordan Pickford.

Liverpool controlled the majority of the second half, having 78% possession in the second 45 and 14 shots, only four of which were on target. If it was a match of ‘hit the goalie’ – the Reds won hands down.

But unfortunately, Klopp’s team found new ways to miss chances again and resorted to having wild efforts outside of the box when they grew fed up of trying to walk it in the goal.

It would be Calvert-Lewin to double the lead for the Toffees just shy of the hour mark. A thunderous header at the back post from a corner at the Gwladys Street end. Poor defending from the set piece left Calvert-Lewin completely unmarked.

It left a mountain to climb for Liverpool, and nothing seemed to be enough. The manager brought in Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo, Jarell Quansah, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas in the second half – but none of them could make an impact significant enough to turn the tide of the match.

The match ended 2-0 to Everton, with the Toffees picking up their first derby win since 2021, and their first in front of supporters since 2010.

The title looks well gone for Liverpool, with the Reds trailing three points to Arsenal and two to Manchester City (who have a game in hand). Winning all four matches remaining is key to reaching a decent enough points tally to have a chance (86 points).

They’ll need a miracle to win the Premier League from here, but Liverpool under Klopp are no strangers to a miracle.

Another trip to the Capital awaits for Liverpool, with the Reds playing West Ham United at the London Stadium. Kick-off is at 12.30pm on Saturday, 27 April.

Everton team: Pickford, Godfrey, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko (Young 46), Harrison, Gueye (Onana 75), Garner, McNeil, Doucoure, Calvert-Lewin (Chermiti 90+4).
Liverpool team: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold (Gomez 84), Konate (Quansah 63), Van Dijk, Robertson (Tsimikas 84), Jones (Elliott 63), Szoboszlai (Endo 63), Mac Allister, Salah, Nunez, Diaz.

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Everton 2-0 Liverpool: Gut-wrenching Goodison Park defeat for Reds

ByJim Nichol-Turner