Derby delight for Liverpool as the Reds drop the Blues
Liverpool 2 Everton 0, 13th February 2023.
Liverpool 2 Everton 0, 13th February 2023.
LIVERPOOL 2 (Salah 36, Gakpo 49)
EVERTON 0
Exactly 30 minutes had elapsed in this evening’s 242nd playing of the Merseyside Derby between the Reds of Liverpool and the Blues of Everton when the visitors finally broke temporarily from the shackles of their rigid, stolid and isolating 4–5–1 formation to force their first corner of the evening. It came to nothing and this white hot local derby continued to gently simmer, but the Blues were finally in a game they’d nervously been frozen out of for half an hour. Where their central midfield three of Amadou Onana, Idrissa Gueye and Abdoulaye Doucoure should have overmatched, overpowered and outnumbered the Reds midfield with the addition of Dwight McNeil and Alex Iwobi out wide, they barely featured at all. Rather, the Reds midfield of Fabinho and skipper Jordan Henderson flanked 18 year old starlet Stefan Bajcetic to yet another impressive, “Man of the Match” defining performance. The youngster started slowly with a couple of early misplaced passes but was immediately central to everything positive for the hosts, snapping into tackles, spraying progressive cross-field passes and simply being the Spanish “pivote” of receiving and passing the ball, retaining possession and linking play from defence into attack.
Everton’s foothold in the game actually became their downfall. Free from the security of their unadventurous system they forced a second corner on 35 minutes. Iwobi’s deep corner was met by a majestic header from central defender James Tarkowski and just 18 seconds after seeing his header crash against the far post of the Liverpool goalframe, his team were 1–0 down. Out of position from an attacking corner, the loose ball was swept upfield following a brilliantly instinctive one-two between eventual goal scorer Mo Salah and Darwin Nunez. Both impressed this evening, with Nunez just pipping Salah with his industrious and nuisance probing runs all evening, perfectly epitomised here as he galloped away from a retreating Everton defence before squaring a perfect pass for Salah to pass into a virtual empty net. What Jordan Pickford was doing in the Everton goal as he went “walkabout” inside his own penalty area is anyone’s guess, but his team had come so close to breaking the derby deadlock, only to be undressed within 18 blistering, counter-attacking seconds.
Four minutes inside the second half and with Everton again pressing inside the Liverpool half and out of their ordinary rigid team shape, Andy Robertson brilliantly won a contested ball on the touchline before exchanging one-two passes with skipper Henderson and then spreading play to the marauding Mo Salah in acres of space on the right attacking flank. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s overlapping run provided an easy pass from Salah and with a whipped cross cutting through the Everton six-yard area leaving Pickford flatfooted and ex Red Conor Coady uncertain, Cody Gakpo gleefully tapped into another empty Everton net, the Blues were once more undressed in a matter of incisive counter-attacking seconds, and the Reds had already secured another Derby win and 3 crucial Premier League points.
If the Blues of Everton were reassuringly dreadful after their new manager “bounce” win over pacesetters Arsenal last Saturday, the Reds of Liverpool looked far hungrier, pacier, fitter and quicker to every opportunity, every loose ball and every chance to spring a counter-attack. Make no mistake, Everton were dreadful and aside from hitting the post their only other shot on target all evening was a tame long range effort from Alex Iwobi on 56 minutes. Liverpool’s blue neighbours now need 6 wins from their final 16 league games of the season and they also need there to be 3 worse teams in the league less they drop through the trapdoor into the most competitive league in England.
I for one am glad the derbies are done and dusted for the season as irrationality strikes when the Reds and the Blues clash and I always fear the worst regardless of form and league position. I needn’t have this evening and didn’t as soon as Bajcetic won his first major tussle and began spraying passes around the fields of Anfield Road with a grace and a poise way beyond his tender years. The Reds back-up central defensive pairing of Joel Matip and Joe Gomez, so fragile of late were rock solid this evening albeit against lone strikers as Blues manager Sean Dyche seemingly refused to change his formation. Andy Robertson impressed, Fabinho was unfussy in midfield, Salah had that competitive glint back in his eyes and Cody Gakpo’s work both with and without the ball as well as his first ever Liverpool goal pushed Bajcetic all the way for the game’s most outstanding player.
This was 3 easy points from a fixture not known for such ease of victory or point collection and whilst not the Reds are their majestic best, it was more than enough to brush aside a tame Everton. Two humdingers are up next in Liverpool’s “Sword of Damocles season” with a trip to Newcastle United on Saturday followed by the visit of their foes old and new, Real Madrid, 3 days later. Tougher tests lie ahead for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds and arguably, their season starts now.
Afterword — The Boss
“…we were super-dominant; switched the sides, played the ball, kept them running. But both goals came from counter-attacks, that’s allowed as well obviously. I loved both goals, loved the involvement of everybody who was around there. For both goals we had three options in the box I think when the pass came in. So, a lot of things were different tonight, so it was the best game for a while and that’s why we won it”.
“We needed this game, we needed the performance. Now we had it, our people absolutely deserved it — I loved the atmosphere, even before we scored. The people were there, it’s insane what kind of atmosphere the people create here. Tonight we delivered and our people deserved it”.
Selected quotes from www.liverpoolfc.com
Thanks for reading. There is a wealth of past and present articles on Liverpool FC within my archival lists here or alternatively, here are my three most recently published articles from this season:
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Liverpool 0 Chelsea 0, 21st January 2023.medium.com