Liverpool 2 - 0 Everton

I was supposed to be watching this in a bar in Majorca. We were all set and then, last weekend, my wife took quite suddenly ill and had to have a rather urgent operation. She’s fine, nothing to worry about, but it did mean we couldn’t go on holiday. And instead I got the “pleasure” of a trip to Anfield.

A few weeks ago, a mate had offered me a ticket though at that point I obviously couldn’t go. So I didn’t in a million years expect the ticket to still be available, though surprisingly it was.

I met with Chris at the bus stop, and joined his brother Michael for breakfast over in Dale Street before heading to the Denbigh Castle for some early beers. It’s always a good laugh meeting up with them fellas. They are passionate Evertonians who seldom miss a game home or away.

One catch with the ticket was that I had to go and collect it from one of Michael’s friends who was at the Harlech Castle on County Road, so I cut short my stay at the Denbigh Castle and jumped in a taxi to meet John, a really nice fella who had my ticket.

It was surprisingly quiet in the Harlech Castle and we had a bit of chit-chat with the barmaid. Upon telling John about my usual pre-match routine I was surprised to hear he already knew it, as he often reads our reports, which is always nice to hear.

I expected Idrissa Gueye to come back into the team and so was surprised to see the team unchanged from our good win against Bournemouth. I made the short trip across Stanley Park. Getting into the Anfield Road end is quite staggered, but certainly better organised than it used to be. The teams came out. Everton well backed of course. Liverpool won the toss and attacked towards us in the first half.

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I suppose not much more needs to be said that hasn’t been said already about the game, but I’ll give my two pence worth. I’m proud of how our lads fought yesterday afternoon. We could have been better in possession, especially when it was 11 versus 11, but we have to accept we have limitations with ability, and that was highlighted on numerous occasions, probably mostly by Abdoulaye Doucoure, and of course by Ashley Young.

I have to give credit where it’s due also. A lot has been made about Virgil van Dijk not being the player he once was, but I thought he was colossal against Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and didn’t give Dominic much opportunity to get into the game. Dominic’s very early chance which he headed straight at Allison was probably the best chance we had all game actually. I thought Beto was more of a handful in his 39 minutes.

But let’s be fair, this is all about Craig Pawson and everybody knows it. When Ashley Young was yellow-carded early in the game, I said out loud “Well, I think that is a yellow card, but that better be the rule all game.” Of which the fella in front of me quickly said “No chance, lad.” And he was right. Clearly right. 

Having booked Ashley Young already, I don’t really have a complaint about Craig Pawson dishing out a second yellow. Now you could argue a player shouldn’t be sent off for two fouls in a Merseyside derby. And it felt to me that he did it on the advice of Trent Alexander-Arnold. On one hand, it felt harsh; on the other, I could understand it. But that’s where the referee must be consistent. And that, he clearly wasn’t.

Well done, Sean Dyche, for being bold enough to make the changes he did at the break. It was bold and brave and good on him for being gutsy enough to do it. If we’d have gone 0-2 down say within 10 minutes of the half, he’d have been under scrutiny big time so good on him for backing himself. It worked, it really did.

Almost everything was kept in front of us, and they blocked, battled and were dogged throughout the half. We made countless blocks, interceptions and tackles, and restricted Liverpool largely to efforts from range. That which was on target was straight at Jordan Pickford.

Ibrahima Konate should have been sent off and everybody knows it, including Jurgen Klopp, who said as much after the match. When Konate challenged Beto, John next to me immediately said calmly “He’s already been booked”. While Craig Pawson, in my view, gave Ashley Young a second yellow on the advice of a Liverpool player, he ignored our players and allowed Konate to remain on the pitch… for the 60 seconds or so at least until Jurgen quickly hooked him.

But you know what, I wasn’t surprised. You just kind of knew. We don’t get these calls when playing against Liverpool or any of the big teams. We just don’t. And there’s not a lot we can do about it… well maybe Sean could do one thing, we’ll come to that later. Ridiculously two of our coaching team received yellow cards in the game instead, including Sean.

Liverpool were dealt a bad hand with a VAR call a few weeks ago and the world came to an end. We get bad calls like this, and nobody cares. A few pundits might come out and say it was a bad call, but that’s the end of it. And all the shouting and screaming in the world from Sean, or anyone, will not make the blindest bit of difference. If anything, the media would have us as a bunch of whingers.

Quickly from memory, I can go back to calls we just don’t get against Liverpool. It happens against all the big teams, but especially at Liverpool and Manchester United. You just don’t get anything. We can quickly add this one to a recent list of Virgil van Dijk avoiding what was a clear red card at Goodison Park last season for a vicious shin-high challenge on Amadou Onana.

The previous season at Anfield under Frank Lampard was a debacle. The challenge by Joel Matip on Anthony Gordon was a clear penalty and VAR barely gave it a look, not to mention that Trent Alexander-Arnold should have been red-carded, especially if yesterday’s logic was applied. 

When we had a dark day there under Marco Silva, while the performance was poor, Mike Dean ignored a clear foul by Virgil van Dijk on Dominc Calvert-Lewin as he went to shoot, that may even have been a red card but was certainly a penalty. While Trent Alexander-Arnold did two very bad challenges and then got away with a clear-as-day deliberate handball while on a yellow card. He literally stretched his arm out and handballed it for no reason.

That’s just recent history. You want me to go back further? I can, no problem, we all know the incidents. And it all leads to this feeling of absolute hopelessness going into Merseyside derbies, especially at Anfield.

We’ve made the trip there several times and been well beaten. I’ve no complaints with that. They’ve been a very good team for many years now and it’s always going to be tough to compete there. So when we do compete, and when we do give a good account of ourselves, you really feel like it's pointless because the officials just won’t give you anything.

And you know what, it’s spoilt the Merseyside derby as a spectacle, no matter how much Sky and the likes try to dress it up. There used to be such a buzz in the city when this fixture rolled around; now, it's so futile. The excitement isn’t there. The way it's officiated, it’s impossible for it to be competitive, especially with the vast difference in resources and quality between the two teams. Yes, yes, a lot of that is our fault down to bad club management, we know this, but are we really asking too much for a fair crack from the officials?

I guess this makes the penalty we conceded all the more frustrating because we had done so much of the hard work and Liverpool didn’t really have a lot of answers. It’s Liverpool. By hook or by crook, they usually find a way and I imagine they probably would have finally breached us somehow. But we don’t know this, so don’t – pardon the pun – hand it to them. It was foolish from Michael and we can have no complaints. Ball to hand, yes, but you can’t leave your hand there. Would we have got it though against a big team? Rodri anyone?

The second goal was academic, and I credit the lads for at least having a go. It’s a shame the late corner kick we had was a poor delivery because it felt that was the only real chance we had late in the game. I tell you what, though, you’ve got to credit Liverpool for their counter-attacking pace and creativity. It’s quite exceptional and you have to doff your cap a bit there. It’s almost a danger to yourself to win a corner kick.

When they countered for the second goal I, like many, many others, departed. Walking back into the city centre, I ran into Chris and Michael. And Chris had a possible solution to Everton making our displeasure at clearly bias refereeing against big teams – do what Carlo Ancelotti did after the Manchester United just before Covid when we had a clear goal disallowed (surprise!).

Sean should confront the referee at the end of the game. The cameras are on you. Everybody sees it. It’s worth the red card – he got a yellow for not doing it yesterday anyway. Make it abundantly clear what a farce this has become. And do it again. And again. And again. And get other teams on board with it too. Make a stand. Supporters would get on board with it. Make their lives hell. They sure make our lives hell.

FA. You are killing the game.

Player ratings

Jordan Pickford: He made a very good save late on and did everything else that was asked of him. Hard to criticise him with distribution too as he didn’t have a lot to work with. 7

Vitalii Mykolenko: Vitalii was excellent. Mohammed Salah didn’t get a lot of change out of him all game and, in the second half, the vast majority of Liverpool’s attacks came from our right. He stood up manfully and did a brilliant job. Despite the circumstances, the applause he got from the Evertonians when he was substituted late on was a nice moment. I’m glad we collectively recognised that. My Man of the Match. 8

Jarrad Branthwaite: Looked very accomplished as ever. I’m interested to see his career develop. He could be a real star in the making. 8

James Tarkowski: He marshalled the lads superbly. A real captain's performance. I still can’t believe he got yellow carded so early in the game for a nothing challenge. 8

Ashley Young: With his experience, he should have known better than to dive in when on a yellow card. It highlights the limitations we have in the squad. I guess when Seamus Coleman is fit, we have our first-choice full-back available, but I feel Nathan Patterson would have had a struggle up against Luis Diaz from the get-go. It was poor from Ashley, though, he should have known better, and he rightly sits out the next game – the same way that Ibrahima Konate should be. 4

Amadou Onana: He made one quite brilliant challenge which perhaps prevented a goal early in the game, and took care of the ball really well, I thought. He had a really good game, as he did in the last game. Hopefully we’re beginning to get the consistency from Amadou which matches his ability. 8

James Garner: He really struggled to get involved in the game, especially in the first half. He got into the game more as it went on, but we really needed more from him I thought. A shame. 5

Abdoulaye Doucoure: No shortage of effort, but his passing, dribbling and decision-making limitations were there for all to see. It is what it is. 5

Dwight McNeil: Had a decent first half but was sacrificed for our second-half game plan. 6

Jack Harrison: Worked hard and pressed well, though was also sacrificed for game plan. 6

Dominic Calvert-Lewin: He had not a lot to work with admittedly, but I thought he struggled to get into the game, though credit to Virgil van Dijk who was outstanding in my opinion. 5

Michael Keane (for Dwight McNeil): He did well, though sadly for Michael, he made a costly mistake. He’ll feel like every mistake he makes gets punished, I imagine. It’s a shame because he does a lot of good, but you can’t ignore the mistakes unfortunately. Keep giving your best though, Michael, that’s all anyone can ask. 6

Nathan Patterson (for Jack Harrison): All the action was on the far side of the pitch so it was difficult to asses exactly how well he did back there. It looked like he battled gamely, but got pulled apart a bit by the tricky Diaz. Presumably he’ll get a good opportunity next weekend in Ashley’s absence. Take the opportunity, Nathan. Give Sean a big decision to make. 6

Beto (for Dominic Calvert-Lewin): I thought he was a bit of a handful and he worked very hard. I’d have liked to have seen how that one versus one against Virgil van Dijk would have gone but we’ll never know. Not a yellow card? Really? 7

Arnout Djanjuma (for Amadou Onana): A bit hit and miss. It perhaps wasn’t the time for flicks and tricks but he did take them on a bit which nobody else was doing. 6

Youssef Chermiti (for Vitalii Mykolenko): I think he’s already looking quite a handy player. We’re obviously seeing very limited amounts of him but he does look to be getting up to speed quite quickly. 6


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