BEG FOR MERSEY
Liverpool 2 Everton 0: Robertson and Origi settle fiery derby to close gap to Man City… and leave Toffees in drop zone
FOR 62 minutes, Frank Lampard pulled off his best Jose Mourinho impersonation and frustrated the hell out of Anfield.
By the time Andy Robertson finally broke the deadlock, Everton had enjoyed 13 per cent of ball possession and yet they should have had a penalty and Liverpool should have been reduced to ten men.
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So while Jurgen Klopp’s quadruple-chasers continue to tail Manchester City at the Premier League summit, on a day Everton sank into the bottom three, this was not a victory earned with the fish-in-a-barrel, cow’s-a**e-with-a-banjo simplicity we expected.
These days, you almost expect Liverpool - and title rivals City - to not just beat but demolish pretty much any other team in the Premier League. And especially a team as bad as Everton have been recently.
Everton’s 68-year stay in the top flight may be in severe peril but Lampard and his team deserve some credit for riling Liverpool’s players, fans and fan-boy Sky pundit Jamie Carragher to the point of distraction.
There were obvious similarities with the infamous Demba Ba match in 2014, when Mourinho’s Chelsea side - including Lampard and Mo Salah - derailed Liverpool’s title bid with a 2-0 victory and a defensive masterclass.
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Still, Liverpool mustered a 12th straight home league win and they remain just a point adrift of champions City with five to play.
The whole idea of this being ‘the friendly derby’ has been a nonsense for years - but this could barely have been more ill-tempered had it been played out by 22 narky native Scousers.
Sadio Mane should have been sent off by ref Stuart Attwell for his part in a mass first-half skirmish and Everton should have been awarded a spot-kick for a Joel Matip foul on Anthony Gordon early in the second half.
Having eviscerated their most bitter rivals, Manchester United, five days earlier, it felt as if Klopp’s side would do the same to their closest foes too.
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Despite winning this fixture, behind-closed-doors, during Liverpool’s lengthy slump last season, Everton hadn’t won a derby in front of any crowd since 2010, or in front of an Anfield crowd this century.
Liverpool fans taunted their opponents by gleefully chanting the name of Rafa Benitez - now even more cherished by the red half of the city, for having done such a fine job of propelling the blue half towards the Championship.
Richarlison angered Anfield with some histrionics after his fellow Brazilian Fabinho brushed his fingers against the Everton forward’s face.
Lampard borrowed the bus-parking gameplan so loved by his old mentor Mourinho and it took 21 minutes of Klopp’s men to conjure a shot at goal, a Mane long-ranger which flew just over.
For a second, Everton thought they had a penalty when Anthony Gordon fell into Naby Keita but Attwell correctly booked the youngster for diving instead.
Diogo Jota side-footed wide from a Robertson centre but while Liverpool bossed possession, Abdoulaye Doucoure was sent clean through and dragged his shot wide.
Then, shortly before half-time, a flashpoint as Richarlison - the ultimate ‘boy that cried wolf’ - stayed down after Thiago Alcantara trod on his foot.
This enraged the home players and fans, including cheerleading Carragher, who embarrassingly started yelling ‘Gerrup! Gerrup!’ as if he was standing on The Kop.
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When play finally stopped after Doucoure fouled Fabinho - the sort of ‘calm down, calm down’ mass handbags you’d expect to see outside a Merseyside pub erupted.
And Mane was extremely lucky to escape with a yellow after he pushed Allan in the face, then seemed to attempt an eye-gouge on Mason Holgate.
Early in the second half, Everton broke rapidly and Gordon - another wolf-crier - was floored by Matip but Attwell waved it away and his VAR Darren England refused to intervene.
Liverpool, who have not conceded a Premier League penalty in more than a year, were enjoying some remarkably generous officiating.
And then as if to rub in a sackful of salt, Liverpool soon seized the lead.
Klopp made a double substitution on the hour, introducing Divock Origi and Luis Diaz for Keita and Mane - and both made a swift impact.
Salah exchanged passes with Origi and chipped for Robertson to score with a downward header at the far post.
Diaz then won control of the ball with a flying back-heel to delight a jubilant home crowd.
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Holgate made a headed clearance off the line and Salah volleyed narrowly over.
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There was still life in Everton - Demarai Gray firing narrowly wide and Lampard’s side still threatening frequently on the break.
But Origi, who loves a derby goal, killed it off with a close-range header five minutes from time, after a flying assist from Diaz.
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