Mohamed Salah and Wayne Rooney scored the goals which meant the 229th Merseyside Derby finished all square, after an intriguing battle between two teams at very different stages in their development.
Tight derby matches such as this are decided not over 90-minutes, but in a matter of seconds. For all the dominance of one side over the other, or the ongoing individual battles throughout the game, a couple of key moments are what these games come down to.
First up, Salah cutting in from the right onto his left foot takes only a matter of seconds. The Egyptian could be the next player to be part of what could be most recently known as the Arjen Robben phenomenon: the next in a long line of forwards whose opponents know what they’re going to do, but still they can’t stop them.
On this occasion there was a bit of extra derby muscle to his play, holding off Cuco Martina and breezing by the unusually irresolute Idrissa Gana Gueye before doing his left foot thing; tucking his curling effort just inside the far post.
Moment two. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, engineering contact from the clumsy Dejan Lovren, and Rooney blasting his penalty past Simon Mignolet are blink-of-an-eye moments, but they change games, and seasons. In reality, not much changed for the two sides here, but the visitors might make the short trip home as the happier of the two and will now have something to build on.
Considering that Sam Allardyce had spent the week drilling his players for this game, having chosen not to travel with the side which defeated Apollon Limassol 3-0 in midweek, he might have expected a better start to the game. They hesitated at kick off, and were pulled back for having players in the opposition half. After this false start they kicked off again and booted the ball long into the Kop to roars of derision from the home fans.
The visitors set up in a compact 4-4-2 formation which made them difficult to break down, but also meant they struggled to be expansive and keep the ball on the counter-attack. The battles between the Liverpool centre backs Ragnar Klavan and Lovren, and Everton strike duo Oumar Niasse and Calvert-Lewin looked like they would be key, and in one particular moment they were.
The real test for Merseyside's blue team came when they went a goal down. Would they have a plan B? Could they gain some control of the ball? Salah’s goal came just before half-time, giving Allardyce chance to change things during the break.
And change things he did. Aaron Lennon and Morgan Schneiderlin entered the arena in place of Niasse and Tom Davies, with Rooney moving forward to support Calvert-Lewin. But with the snow floating down onto the Anfield turf, it was Liverpool who began the second half the brighter. Milner crossed from the right and Salah should have had his second, but his unopposed header back across goal drifted agonisingly wide of the far post.
If anything, this second version of Allardyce’s derby eleven looked less likely to make something happen than the first. A difficult feat in itself. Liverpool camped in the opponent's half, regularly winning corners and rousing their fans when Sadio Mane attempted an acrobatic overhead kick.
Both sets of fans grew into the half, singing jovially and occasionally crassly. The scoreboard gave the Kop the upper hand over the Everton fans assembled in the Anfield Road end for much of the game, as they reminded them how long it had been since their last trophy.
Even goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, renowned for his distribution and one of Everton’s standout players in a poor season, was kicking the ball out of play as he attempted to spring Calvert-Lewin on the counter-attack.
But they were in with a chance as long as the score stayed at 1-0. Joe Gomez, who was excellent at right back for the hosts, headed over from a Salah free kick, and shortly after this Klopp brought Roberto Firmino on for Salah to add fresh legs to go with the firepower.
Liverpool’s dominance turned to anxiety on the pitch and in the stands. This team like a four goal cushion before they get comfortable, and to be fair it’s something they’re not unfamiliar with this season, but this game grew more uncomfortable for them as it approached the final 20 minutes.
This tension culminated in the conceding of the penalty when Calvert-Lewin cleverly put himself in the way of Lovren and the ball, encouraging the centre back to make his move and the Croatian obliged. The defender may have felt hard done to when craig Pawson pointed to the spot, but it was good play by the young English striker to give the official a question to answer.
Everton will be reluctant to celebrate the draw, but given that they have had little to cheer in recent months the point against their much lauded neighbours will be savoured by their fans, their players, and especially their manager.
