Everton effectively ended their relegation fears and all but ended Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes with a 2-0 win over their rivals at Goodison Park.
Goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin gave the Toffees a deserved win that moves them eight points clear of the relegation zone with four games to go.
The Reds now need a miracle to erase the advantages of Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
How the game developed
After Diogo Jota was ruled out through injury last weekend, the Reds’ attacking options were further limited as Cody Gakpo withdrew from the squad before his wife gave birth.
Everton, meanwhile, welcomed Ben Godfrey and James Garner to the team that secured a crucial 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in their last game.
Buoyed by this confident victory and with a passionate crowd behind them, it was the hosts who got off to the best start.
Abdoulaye Doucoure failed to give them an early lead when he set up a simple chance on goal before a penalty against Alisson Becker was overturned for a foul on Calvert-Lewin in the build-up to offside.
But Everton progressed and Calvert-Lewin and Godrey failed to take presentable header chances before Branthwaite broke the deadlock.
The defender took advantage of the chaos in the Liverpool penalty area, particularly a poor free throw from Ibrahima Konate, to push the ball home and send the home crowd into an uproar.
Liverpool recovered and created chances of their own before the break, but Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz hammered the ball straight at Jordan Pickford before Mohamed Salah shot over.
The Reds appeared ready to start turning after the half-time break when Virgil van Dijk took an early corner and nodded it straight towards Pickford.
But Everton roared straight back and Dwight McNeil forced Alisson to tip over the bar before Calvert-Lewin was free in the penalty area to head a corner into the back of the net.
By this point, Liverpool’s hopes seemed lost and optimism about an unlikely comeback only faded further when Diaz hit the inside of the post from the left.
From then on, the visitors largely left with a whimper as Everton comfortably finished the game and claimed a victory that all but secured their future in the top flight for another season.
TW: Jordan Pickford – 7/10 – His most important contribution was pulling off two big saves from Nunez and Diaz in the first half to keep Everton at the top.
RB: Ben Godfrey – 7/10 – He set the tone with a few fierce early challenges and largely got along well with Diaz.
CB: James Tarkowski – 7/10 – Seemed to win everything that came his way, including set-piece throws into the opposition penalty area.
CB: Jarrad Branthwaite – 8/10 – He took his goal well and was part of an impressive defensive performance from the Toffees. What a talent he is.
LB: Vitaliy Mykolenko – 6/10 – Played well until he had to leave the field at half-time due to injury.
RM: Jack Harrison – 6/10 – He faded a bit as the game went on, but was a constant threat and worked hard on defense.
CM: James Garner – 7/10 – Helped to attract Liverpool midfielders and keep the ball easy to handle.
CM: Idriss Gana Gueye 7/10 – A big part of Everton’s control is the middle of the park. He ran to the ground and
LM: Dwight McNeil – 7/10 – Always there to help out defensively or get Everton up the pitch and his set pieces were brilliant.
AM: Abdoulaye Doucoure – 6/10 – He wasn’t always neat and tidy in possession, but he was always an outlet and got close to Calvert-Lewin to get the most out of his attacks.
ST: Dominic Calvert-Lewin – 8/10 – Made something of every ball that came his way and gave Liverpool’s central defenders hell in the process. Deserved his goal.
Substitute
SUB: Ashley Young (46′ for Mykolenko) – 6/10
SUB: Andre Onana (75′ for Gueye) – 6/10
Substitute: Youssef Chermiti (90+3′ for Calvert-Lewin) – N/A
Substitutes not used: Virginia, Keane, Gomes, Warrington, Danjuma, Hunt.
Manager
Sean Dyche – 8/10 – He nailed his tactical plan and got Everton to dominate their neighbors in a way rarely seen in the last decade.
GK: Alisson Becker – 5/10 – Set the tone for the evening by clumsily giving away a penalty before a VAR offside call is made. However, takes no blame for the goals.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10 – Liverpool’s best creator during his time on the pitch, but was often disappointed by those around him.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 3/10 – Completely bullied by Calvert-Lewin and also poor in possession. Deserves to get hooked just after the hour mark.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 5/10 – Not quite as ineffective as Konate, but it’s rare for a defense he’s involved in to be dominated in this way.
LB: Andy Robertson – 5/10 – Had so many promising positions in the future, but lacked quality in crucial moments.
CM: Alexis Mac Allister 5/10 – One of Liverpool’s better midfielders, which isn’t saying much. A shadow of the player seen at the start of the season.
CM: Dominik Szoboszlai – 4/10 – Wasteful with the ball and physically humble. The Hungarian’s form has fallen sharply since his injury mid-season.
CM: Curtis Jones – 5/10 – Another who appears to be suffering from a hangover from a recent injury. Everton failed to regain control of the game.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 3/10 – He hasn’t been himself since the injury at the Africa Cup of Nations, as he showed by missing several chances here. Liverpool may have to make an interesting decision about their future this summer.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 2/10 – Never shook off his knack for missing big chances and did it again here. Rarely caused problems for Everton’s central defenders either. A puzzle that the new manager must solve.
LW: Luis Diaz – 5/10 – Did about as well as any Liverpool attacker, but that just amounted to him missing a one-on-one and hitting the post.
Substitute
SUB: Harvey Elliott (63′ for Jones) – 6/10
SUB: Wataru Endo (63′ for Szoboszlai) – 5/10
SUB: Jarell Quansah (63′ for Konate) – 6/10
Substitute: Joe Gomez (84th minute for Alexander-Arnold) – not available
Substitute: Kostas Tsimikas (84th minute for Robertson) – N/A
Substitutes not used: Kelleher, Gravenberch, Clark, Danns.
Manager
Jurgen Klopp – 4/10 – Seems to be working with an extremely depleted squad, but his lack of answers to this latest stumble has been surprising.