Final Score: Everton 2-2 Liverpool
Everton Goals: Leon Osman (22), Steven Naismith (35)
Liverpool Goals: Leighton Baines O.G (14), Luis Suárez (20)
The first Merseyside derby with Brendan Rodgers in charge was an absolute roller-coaster ride that ended with that familiar sense of not having quite managed to have a points tally that matched up to our performance. As far as the team was concerned it was disappointing that Glen Johnson was unable to recover from the injury picked up in the Europa League but a chance for Jose Enrique to pick up where he left off against Reading, other than that it was a little surprising to actually see Pepe Reina on the bench but showed faith in Brad Jones who fully deserved his chance.
It ended with an incorrect offside decision and so it began. Everton played the ball in directly to Steven Naismith who was ahead of all the red shirts only for Jose Enrique to concede an early corner. From here the counter attack looked very much on but Enrique's follow up pass as he tried to bend it round for Sterling was poor. The early exchanges were every bit what you would expect, with their players putting us under constant pressure but we were bright enough and always on the look out for the next pass. Though it was a little congested in midfield, Everton did have their share of the ball. What we did look to do was get in behind them very quickly when taking it off them. Enrique played in Suarez down the left hand side and while he was able to take it in and face up with Jagielka, the pass then back to Suso slowed the move down, with the young Spaniard watched carefully for his eventually cross to arrive safely into the hands of Tim Howard. At the other end a ball through very nearly put Naismith in on goal but he too was watched carefully by Martin Skrtel, with Brad Jones alert enough to come out and take it off his toes.
Everton's movement in attacking areas was going to have to be watched carefully given what was evident in the opening few minutes. Naismith popped up all over the place and tried to make a nuisance of himself as often as possible while Fellaini was always a threat and an option should Everton choose to use him. On the other side, Kevin Mirallas created the first real opening of the game. Picking the ball up on the half way line, he strode forward and simply kept on running. Direct, full of pace and energy, his dangerous looking cross was knocked over the top by Skrtel for a corner, of which a second quickly followed. For us, Suarez was making his usual drifting movements, always keen to be involved as much in the build up as the goal itself. One thing we were always able to do with him was get it to stick and build a platform but from here it broke down somewhat, with Sahin and Sterling having a breakdown in communication and the Turkish midfielder having it taken from him having stood on it for too long. Both teams were a little rash in possession, although it was a credit that this was mostly due to the pressure being applied by the side without the ball. Having just about settled into the game things were about to get a whole lot better.
A simple ball in by Suso down the left hand side completely unlocked their defence and Enrique was in. He took hold of it and flashed it across the box, where Raheem Sterling went down under a challenge. Before anyone could even put their hands in the air and enquire about a penalty, Suarez picked it up and took over. In trying to drill it into the far corner, the ball hit Leighton Baines and into the Everton net to give us the lead. Scoring at Goodison Park is enough to anger the Everton faithful but Suarez's celebration went one better. After Moyes had been talking up in the press all week about Luis and diving, the Uruguyan having provided the goal ran over to the technical area and flopped in front of the Everton bench, is it any wonder we love him?
With almost no real goalmouth action prior to the opener, it rattled the home side and equally gave us a little boost in confidence. They managed to pin us back with a succession of throw ins down by the penalty area on the right hand side but we stood up to them and eventually managed to clear. When Sterling went running away on the counter, it was nothing more than a release of the pressure but the free kick that Leon Osman gave away would punish Everton even further. Steven Gerrard's ball in was good, Everton's marking was not. Luis Suarez headed the ball beyond Tim Howard to double the lead and send the reds into dreamland. It then very quickly turned into a nightmare.
People talk about being completely switched on and concentrating for the period directly after you score a goal so much so that it's a cliché. Here proved exactly why such sentiments exist. Fellaini and Naismith combined to win a corner, for which Brad Jones came and failed to command the situation for the first time in a long time and was punished for it. His punch back to the edge of the box fell straight to Leon Osman who took a touch to set himself and slotted the ball into the corner. Everton with a goal back and a lot of impetuous, backed by their supporters and a renewed energy from the players. At this point Brendan Rodgers would have wanted his men to get on the ball and settle things down, both the tempo and the occasion needed cooling, unfortunately we were unable to get it off them. The one chance we did manage to wrestle control, Suso went for the booming long pass to Sterling on the counter rather than holding onto it. Though the intentions were well meant - to try and get back at Everton on the break - simply trying to keep it and away from them is something that will come with experience.
Everton were direct and looked menacing whenever they went forward. Mirallas in particular looked to be causing problems whenever he was involved with the play. The pressure was mounting and Skrtel was forced to head wide for a corner. Having punched the set play that lead to Everton's goal, Jones decided that this time he would come out and claim it only to not quite get there in trying to force his way through a load of bodies. Fortunately the referee looked kindly on him and awarded us the free kick. With the game having been almost turned by a sudden goal for the home side, another one for us would almost certainly do the same. As ever it was Suarez at the heart of the matter, taking the ball inside and shooting agonisingly wide. In an attacking sense that was pretty much all we had. It was all Everton.
Andre Wisdom has been such a rock in his early Liverpool career it's very easy to forget that he is still learning and developing. Every footballer will have games like these and that it just so happened to come in the derby is unfortunate but ultimately understandable. Mirallas was giving him a real hard time on the flank and when he was caught on the ball Everton nearly went through for their second, only for Jelavic to get his ball through to Fellaini wrong and the Belgian to knock it just wide. Another wave of attack wasn't far away, this time it came when Leighton Baines was too quick for Sterling and forced the youngster into making a challenge that would ultimately earn him a booking. Fellaini was now seemingly the centre of the universe with the football being drawn toward that rather large afro of his. A thorn in our sides at every juncture, it was increasingly difficult to deal with as our midfield flattened out a little and became incredibly disjointed. Allen and Gerrard were appearing on the right, with Sahin at times trying to get up alongside Suarez. Not that they weren't trying to do what was needed and get us back some composure in the game but it left us ragged in the middle which in turn allowed them a little more freedom and space in the attacking third.
Crowd pressure can sometimes get to referees, it also on occasion works against them. When Joe Allen tried to play through Sterling and he collided with Leighton Baines once more, the Goodison Park faithful were baying for a red card. In spite of the protests from the fans - and indeed Tim Howard who ran a fair few yards to give his say on the matter - Sterling was instead given a talking to by Andre Marriner. At least now we were starting to get out of our own half a little bit more often. Though the atmosphere had not yet died down there was more of a sense that there was only one team trying to score, Sahin and Suarez linking up inside the box after Suso had driven the ball inside. From this small shoot of recovery came the hammer blow. Andre Wisdom was unfortunate to concede a throw in that came off an Everton boot and from here we were made to pay. Mirallas put in a poor ball from the right, so much so that it hit Fellaini. He was the only one to react to it however as the entire defence shut off completely and his cross was converted by Steven Naismith. Two goals up and the game was now level.
At this point, the game was poised to turn into an absolute mess. With ten minutes left to go before the break, another Everton goal would really test our mindset and so it was important that at the very least we were strong enough to see it out. Gerrard tried to make some inroads on the right, before Sterling and Enrique linked up on the left. Either side there was no way through and they came back at us once more. Sitting deeper and deeper defensively, we started to invite them onto us and were nearly made to pay after Mirallas' cross was so powerful it forced a save from Brad Jones. Having tormented us for most of the half, even Luis Suarez had dropped so deep to help out and at one point and gave away a free kick on the edge of the penalty area which we were just able to handle it.
Just about hanging on in there, Mirallas came again before half time. Absolutely destroying Andre Wisdom with a spin on the ball only to earn a corner and nothing more, he then hobbled off the pitch clearly in some pain. Skrtel dealt with what followed before Sheamus Coleman fired over. Breathing a sigh of relief, there was still time for a little amusement as the referee would admonish someone for diving. All the talk prior to - and even during - the game, it was Everton captain Philip Neville who was found trying to con the referee. Disgraceful scenes. With three minutes of added on time in the first half there was still room for one last attack and it was Gerrard on the end of it. The ball was bouncing and incredibly difficult to take on the volley but still the Liverpool captain tried to shift his body in position only to hit it very high and wide. It would have been the perfect end to forty five minutes of madness in which we rode out the early pressure, scored twice and then very nearly completely melted in the face of oncoming pressure. There was a lot for both Brendan Rodgers and David Moyes to take in and still another half to play. It's in times like these that managers earn their money.
More often than not very little actually changes at half time, visibly anyway. I've seen games where momentum has shifted and even turn around completely during the interval but it's only on a rare occasion that the actual team itself change that drastically. That's what happened here as Brendan Rodgers sent us out having made two substitutions and also a brand new change in formation. Jonjo Shelvey was on in place of Suso and Sebastian Coates was brought on for Nuri Sahin, which meant that we were now operating with three at the back with Wisdom and Enrique the wing backs. 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 depending on whether or not we had the ball, either way it was still impressive and bold to see the manager make such drastic changes rather than letting the game drift any more.
As you'd expect, Everton started the half looking to get back onto the front foot and re-establish the dominance they were enjoying at the end of the first. They too made a change during the break but this was forced on them with the injury to Kevin Mirallas meaning he could not continue and Magaye Gueye was on in his place. One of the substitutes looking to make an early impact was Jonjo Shelvey. He was on the ball and running with it quickly, laying off Andre Wisdom who nearly found Suarez. It was the kind of move we were lacking in the first half as Shelvey was able to get into the space in between defence and attack that Sahin couldn't seem to find. A few minutes later and the first real chance to add to the scoring came and it was a golden chance for Raheem Sterling. A ball through in behind the left hand channel by Jose Enrique found the young striker now one on one with Tim Howard but not only did he not get his shot on target he fluffed it completely and skied it well over. Someone with more experience would have been able to put that away and that's not a criticism, just something that will only change with time and learning.
Although Everton were enjoying a lot of the possession in the initial exchanges of the second half, defensively we were doing a much better job of keeping them away from Brad Jones' goal. They were still causing problems around the penalty area however with Jelavic forcing a save and the ball squirting out to Baines. Skrtel challenged him and though it was rash the referee didn't answer the crowds howls for a penalty. Coleman fired over and after that we were a little more composed. Having three centre halves enabled one of them to step out from the defence and pick off the passes before they could even be a problem, while the midfield was doing a better job of getting to grips with theirs and exerting some real pressure of their own. Joe Allen is not someone whom you'd normally associate with tough tackling and getting stuck in and it's not that he doesn't have it but rather the way we want to play you'd hope he never has to show it. There are always occasions whereby you need to have a little steel however and he really showed it here, getting involved in battles all over the park and coming out on top in a lot of them.
Though we had not fully extinguished their presence within the game it was certainly more of an even contest and we weren't quite as hanging on as at the end of the first half. Suarez as ever was being a perfect outlet, dragging Jagielka out wide before one of those trademark runs across the byline into the penalty area before Distin blocked the shot. Also on the break Sterling was always going to be a problem to contend with his pace, so Jagielka then brought him down to earn a booking - even though Shevley's ball through would never have found him. From the resulting free kick Steven Gerrard was in the mood to do his best Gary McAllister impression, trying to cause a problem for Tim Howard some thirty five yards out, with the ball bouncing directly in front of him before being cleared. Following this Everton came again, with Fellaini being the one looking to cause havoc in amongst our defence. Three chances in quick succession ended with Coates just about doing enough to force him to head it wide, with the crosses coming from both sides after we were unable to properly clear.
Despite having kept them at arms length for the majority of the time, all it would take - as we'd seen in the first half - was one lapse in concentration to result in a goal. Much like their second, the ball was played down the wing, only it was on the right hand side and not the left. Jose Enrique missed it and they were in, only this time Martin Skrtel reacted well and challenged Jelavic preventing him from what could have been a tap in. We had become a little sloppy in possession and were giving away cheap free kicks to allow them to build up the pressure some more now. Joe Allen was too eager in his trying to win the ball back and the following Baines set piece was met by Jelavic who caught it too well. Unlike Suarez in the first half - who glanced it - Jelavic caught it full on and head wide. Moments later another challenge resulted in further Everton pressure when Agger pulled Fellaini - and then rather comically handballed it - but this time there was no real end product to be found.
With just over twenty minutes to go, Rodgers made his final change and once again it was a little out of the ordinary. Jordan Henderson came on for Andre Wisdom to play at right full back. What this would do was allow us the chance to step up ten yards or so and give us some footing inside the Everton half. Right inside their half, Suarez was again causing problems for Sylvain Distin. This time it was an untimely boot right at the base of his heel with Luis' studs going right into the defender's achilles after slipping slightly while trying to harass him at the back. The crowd wanted a red and indeed it did not look pretty on replays but - and maybe I'm being naive - I don't think it was intentional. Suarez had his hand up in apology immediately but that wouldn't change the fact that it was a bad challenge and earned him a yellow card.
It's happened to us on a few occasions this year where the game appears to be there for the taking and you can't quite get the goal so impatience sets in and it was starting to happen to Everton as we went into the final quarter of the game. We had good numbers back as well as an imposing shape and as such it was difficult for them to find a way through in quite the same way as they were in the first half. Their crosses were now becoming a little aimless and attempts on goal more desperate, with Jelavic trying to scissor kick the ball and coming closer to knock off Daniel Agger's head. At the other end with there a little more space in their half, Jordan Henderson was able to get free on the right but was - having delayed his cross once already - unable to put anything in of real quality. Coleman did likewise for Everton at the other end having cleared our corner as the game was starting to get a little stretched and then Steven Gerrard set Jonjo Shelvey away. The midfielder carried it half the length of the pitch and was practically invited to shoot as no-one closed him down and so he obliged. Both Suarez and Sterling could have been played in but when the space opens up like that you can't pass up those opportunities.
As we went into the closing stages the game was still firmly in the balance but lacked any real fluidity. Coates was riling the home side with his aggressive challenges as much as Fellaini was pushing his luck for Everton. Having only just about been cleared - however unsurprisingly - it was a sign of just how much he means to David Moyes' team as to how everything was still going through Fellaini, who was constantly on the move. Martin Skrtel was forced into serious action when he played a ball through to Gueye and then Distin slid in on the Slovakian. Skrtel was quick to react in charging down Baines - whom the ball had arrived at the feet of - and made sure it was a corner and nothing more. Though the threat of an Everton winner did seem to loom large, for the most part in the second half we had done an excellent job of making sure Brad Jones had very little to do.
Whether it was a part of the managers plan or something that evolved naturally out of Everton's growing frustration, with under ten minutes to go there was suddenly a second wind from us. We looked a threat once more, even in situations where the danger looked to be far away. Jose Enrique's ball was over hit and Jordan Henderson did nothing more than force Gueye into playing - and then losing - it. His cross was tucked back onto the edge by Daniel Agger and Gerrard's shot looked to be going in but for the intervention of Jagielka. The crowd were aware that there was a chance they could lose this and the tension added to their frustrations. One man who was feeling it was Slyvain Distin, who had to contend with Luis Suarez continually on the move. Dragging the defender out wide, Suarez managed to brush by him on the edge of the box only to put in a weak shot that was blocked anyway.
Despite being on the edge of a derby day red card, Raheem Sterling handled himself pretty well in the aftermath. The chance he missed was one that he will not look back on with any fondness but in terms of trying to do a job for the team in difficult circumstances, there was no doubting the desire and fight of the lad who was right at the death still causing problems for them. Having not been able to get the ball back after we'd gotten onto the front foot, Everton will have been glad to see Sterling shoot miles over. It was one of those where you want someone to take the responsibility of trying to score but still he should have done better and it released all the pressure. With a couple of minutes to go, it looked like Everton had very little left. Whenever they did get onto the ball, there were enough red shirts back in position to deal with anything and surprisingly enough there appeared to be a lack of desire for many of their players to get into the penalty area. Four minutes of injury time remained. Just enough for another controversy.
The midfield had done a good job in the closing stages of keeping the ball away from Everton and not allowing them to build up anything. Joe Allen was all over the place while Steven Gerrard and Jonjo Shelvey roamed and made sure to do whatever they could. With Gerrard on the receiving end of another soft foul, it looked like we'd be eating up the seconds that remained but the free kick did offer one last chance to overload the penalty area. The ball in was good, Coates' climb over a defender and header back was even better and Suarez's finish should have been the match winner. It would have been glorious and a spectacular boost for Brendan Rodgers and the team. What seemed like several minutes later however, the assistant referee raised his flag. The goal didn't count. Suarez was on side. The temptation to suggest that had anyone else scored it, the goal may have counted is massive, but we'll leave it at that. This is why some managers prefer to be lucky than good.
With a minute to go there were still a couple of half chances for a hero on either side. Joe Allen once again magnificent on the defensive end of things before Sterling went through half the Everton team but was unable to find either Shelvey or Suarez who still managed to race onto it and fire wide. Full time then and the difference between three points and one is rather poorly dictated to us by the officials. Things like that leave a very sour taste in my mouth as we need to start picking up the points. That being said I can take comfort in the fact that Rodgers had the nous and the bravery to stop the rot at half time. He's shown on numerous occasions already this season that he isn't afraid to do something out of the ordinary and that willingness to try is something that should be applauded. I just hope we have something to show for it at the end of the season.
