Liverpool Beaten By Everton In 244th Merseyside Derby

Liverpool lost 2-0 away to Everton in Wednesday night’s Premier League match at Goodison Park.

The home side had a spot-kick awarded and retracted in the first 45 minutes, before Jarrad Branthwaite scored after pinballing inside the Reds box.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin added a second for the Blues, and despite the visitors’ chances, including Luis Diaz hitting the woodwork, Jürgen Klopp’s final Merseyside derby ended in defeat.

The Liverpool starting lineup changed six times, with Ibrahima Konate returning to defence, three changes in midfield, and Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah returning to attack.

The 244th Merseyside derby kicked off at a frantic pace amid a Goodison Park din, with the hosts causing alarm twice in six minutes.

First, Dwight McNeil’s deflected cross from the left found Abdoulaye Doucoure, who misjudged the angle of his side-footed shot and sent it well wide.

Moments later, it appeared Everton had a penalty when Alisson Becker brought down Calvert-Lewin as he collected a pass in behind and nudged the ball past the Brazilian. But a VAR review confirmed offside in the build-up, providing a reprieve for the Reds.

At the other end, Salah diverted Trent Alexander-Arnold’s dink into the box, but Ben Godfrey cleared before Nunez could convert.

Liverpool needed Alisson when a deep Blues free kick to the left of their area was deflected to the opposite post, where Calvert-Lewin’s firm header was saved.

Everton’s set-pieces, on the other hand, were a constant source of danger, and they scored on 27 minutes. A major scramble ensued inside the box, and the ball eventually fell to Branthwaite, whose strike Alisson made contact with but squirmed over the line off the post.

The Reds had a great chance to level after Diaz’s tenacious battling and dribbling allowed Alexis MacAllister and Salah to set up Nunez on goal, but the Uruguayan’s shot was saved by Jordan Pickford.
And they had a number of opportunities to equalise as they dominated just before halftime.

A combination of Salah and Nunez headers found Diaz at close range, but his finish was saved by Pickford. Salah then fired over after a precise Alexander-Arnold forward pass put his team back on the attack, and several more blocks and saves kept them out.

Virgil van Dijk’s early header from a corner was too close to Pickford, and Idrissa Gueye’s tame shot at Alisson came after an Everton breakaway led by Doucoure.

The Liverpool custodian had to tip over McNeil’s long-range blast, and Everton doubled their lead with the resulting corner.

McNeil swung in a deep delivery from the dead ball, and Calvert-Lewin took advantage of the space at the back post to power a downward header into the net.

Klopp quickly made a triple substitution, replacing Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, and Konate with Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo, and Jarell Quansah, respectively.

The Toffees’ tails were up now, and only a last-ditch block kept McNeil from scoring a clean strike on Alisson’s goal as they threatened a third goal.

Diaz was extremely unlucky to hit the right-hand post after driving into the area from the left flank and arcing the ball towards the opposite corner.

Pickford pushed over Elliott’s dipping volley in the final minute and saved Salah’s stoppage-time effort as Everton held on for the win.