Everton 2
Liverpool 2
Goodison Park, Sunday Oct 28 2012
On a weekend which started with debate about diving and foreign players, it seemed that professional footballers chose to close ranks and indicate that the problem is not limited to foreign players. Phil Neville should be applauded for taking the lead, though we do sympathise with the yellow card he garnered.
Luiz Suarez was in the news of course. His dive was more theatrical in nature and aimed at David Moyes in particular, for the pre-match comments uttered. The celebration of the first goal was remarkable both in its audacity as well as its execution. Moyes should have known that this type of baiting can only motivate Suarez more. It remains to be seen if this baiting will be repeated by other managers.
As a footnote to this diving saga, Fernando Torres was sent off for a second yellow for simulation against Manchester United.
Moving ahead, it is very apparent that luck was against Liverpool with regards to refereeing decisions. Liverpool should have on this match, though, the defence is an area where more work is needed.
Read the match report by Chris bascombe.
"Liverpool left with a point and a crate of evidence to support Brendan Rodgers’ swelling persecution complex at the hands of match officials.
Luis Suárez as the modern reincarnation of Little Lord Fauntleroy may take a while to pull off, but Rodgers felt aggrieved that a linesman’s flag wrongly denied his striker the status of Merseyside derby hero.
He was adamant it was a case of the sinner being sinned against, the disallowed 'winner’ in the fourth minute of stoppage time grist to the mill following a series of unfavourable decisions.
“I’m not going to keep going on about officials because it has been happening to us all season. But that one at the end was quite straightforward,” said Rodgers.
“It was a free-kick from deep and the ball was in the air for a long time and you could clearly see he was onside. When he put it in he was marginally level. It was a terrific finish and he could have had a hat-trick. He was not at all motivated by any comments before the game. He is motivated every day of his life.“I was bitterly disappointed at not getting the winner. It was a brilliant game and I thought we stood up well. I am so disappointed it didn’t count because it was an easy decision. “So, instead of being a brilliant win for us, we are left feeling frustrated. At the same time I am very proud because of the way my young team performed in a real cauldron.”
There was a certain irony that a booking for diving was given to anEverton player. “Do you want me to talk about Phil Neville? Don’t start me,” Rodgers tersely observed.
A captivating encounter was granted a suitably contentious final act. Quite where Suárez was heading after nudging Sebastián Coates’ header beyond Tim Howard is now, sadly, a matter for conjecture.
After his role in Liverpool’s first, most likely to go down as a Leighton Baines own goal, Suárez ran towards David Moyes and dived at his feet, evidently unimpressed by the Everton manager’s highly politicised assessment of his reputation. “It’s called Scouse wit,” said Rodgers when asked about the striker’s evidently pre-meditated response.
Moyes stated before kick-off he finds it hard to sleep after a derby, and he would have endured another restless night had the goal stood.
The passing of an opportunity to confirm the merit of suggestions that he now possesses a superior line-up may still cause some disturbance.
This was unfamiliar territory for the hosts. They are no longer perceived as punching above their weight, expected rather than simply willed to win such fixtures. Their inability to do so owed everything to a dire start and a failure to reassert themselves after their enforced half-time substitution and Liverpool’s shift in formation.
Everton ended a frantic first half level and in command but they were permanently undermined by the premature departure of Kevin Mirallas who, until then, was defining events.
Despite their early two-goal lead, Liverpool’s line-up was fragile. Although Raheem Sterling adapted swiftly to the intensity of the occasion, Suso and Nuri Sahin were dynamic in possession but a liability without it. Sahin had assisted Suárez with the opening goal on 14 minutes, prior to the Uruguayan glancing his header from Gerrard’s free-kick for the second. Leon Osman benefited from a tame punch to cut the deficit and Steven Naismith equalised after the right of Liverpool’s defence went missing 10 minutes before half-time.
Mirallas constantly attacked teenager Andre Wisdom until the Belgian’s ankle gave way just before half time.
Liverpool responded tactically, introducing Coates and abandoning the 4-3-3 Rodgers usually defends with a religious zeal, and it worked. It was as if the Liverpool manager began the derby clinging to his romanticism before realising pragmatism is usually more productive when the cut and thrust begins.
Rodgers said he had to change to counter Everton’s direct style. “My change was due to the fact that they had two guys of 6ft 3ins and 6ft 4ins up front and everyone kept smashing balls up to them,” he said. “We needed that extra body. It can be difficult, especially defending against a team that is very direct, putting loads of long balls into the box.”
There was more serenity after the break. Anxiety spread in the home ranks in the final stages, Liverpool retaining composure on the ball and benefiting from some reckless challenges.
They thought they had stolen the winner but Suárez left sporting his usual pose, both blessed and cursed. It was an afternoon that underlined why he is so endearing to his own fans, but why Moyes probably still refuses to utter his name without a mouthwash handy."
