An ever-fiery Merseyside derby saw Liverpool come out as narrow victors against a persistent Everton side.
The Toffees thought they had snuck ahead in the 20th minute as the inform Beto prodded through Caoimhin Kelleher, but the offside flag was being held up.
It took until just before the 60th minute for Liverpool to take the lead when terrific forward play from Diogo Jota proved too much for the Everton defence, as he slotted past Jordan Pickford to make it 1-0.
Arne Slot’s team remained resilient defensively and held out to extend their unbeaten run to 26 games in the Premier League.
As it happened
On the stroke of the 10th minute, the Merseyside derby burst into life when James Tarkowski flew into the action and into Alexis Mac Allister’s calf. Although he won the ball, his follow through was reckless and high and warranted an immediate yellow card – fortunately for him it was cleared by VAR and no red was brandished. Both Mo Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai stood over the free-kick; the latter fired just past Pickford’s far post.
Soon after, Carlos Alcaraz’s volleyed attempt at the back post was crucially blocked by Ibrahima Konaté, as Liverpool failed to deal with James Garner’s long throw-in.
Everton didn’t stop their pressure there. Tarkowski was involved once more, this time he found Beto in behind the Liverpool defence, and after he fought off Virgil van Dijk, he slipped the ball underneath Kelleher. The Guinea-Bissauan striker was all but celebrating, as he turned and noticed the flag was raised for offside.
It was then the hosts’ turn to go forward, with Jota and Salah coming closest. Kota flashed a ball past the far post and the Egyptian winger headed a tame effort into the gloves of Pickford.
Beto once again nearly broke the deadlock, this time following some rare poor defensive work from Liverpool’s captain van Dijk. Everton’s number 14 had time and space as his effort flew past Kelleher, but rattled the frame of the goal, requiring Liverpool’s backline to remain honest and alert.
In the moments before half time, Gravenberch tried all he could to force Liverpool ahead. A tantalising cross from the Dutchman saw it run across the whole box, and his well-struck attempt from distance was blocked and luckily popped up into Pickford’s hands.
This was all that could be expected of a Merseyside derby in the first half: forceful challenges, disallowed goals, plenty of big chances – almost everything but a goal.
Gravenberch continued to make an impact into the second half, and he struck a ball that dipped, swerved, and forced a fisted save from Pickford. The shot also fired the second half into a short stint of basketball-esque action which drew the crowd into song.
Song then turned to rapture as Jota snatched the lead for Liverpool. His tricky footwork left Idrissa Gana Gueye and Jarrad Branthwaite in his wake before he rolled his finish the opposite way that Pickford dived, giving Liverpool a crucial advantage.
Embed from Getty ImagesAction died down in the second half after the Jota goal and both teams drew to the bench in order to fight for their cause. But it was Luis Díaz who brought life back into the game with a nice darting move into the box, but his shot was subpar and at the feet of the English goalkeeper.
As the game entered a close, Pickford and Darwin Núñez collided long after the whistle had been blown much to the distaste of the Kop End, bringing some much needed atmosphere to close the fixture.
Liverpool regained their 12 point margin at the top of the Premier League coming into the final stretch of matches.
The lineups
LIV: Kelleher; Jones, Konaté, van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Szoboszlai, Díaz; Jota
EVE: Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko; Gueye, Garner; Harrison, Doucouré, Alcaraz; Beto