Liverpool vs Everton- Dull Derby ends in Deadlock

Today (Sunday 5^th May), Liverpool played local rivals Everton at Anfield. Neither side created many chances, and the game ended goalless. The only real talking point was a goal from Sylvain Distin that was disallowed.

After our game against Everton earlier in the season Gerrard accused the Blues of being too direct, but it was he who was playing the long passes in the early exchanges of this game. They were working well; he set Sturridge away a couple of times, whose pace got him in behind the defence. However, he wasn’t able to provide the finish on either occasion. Everton also created a couple of chances in the first half, but weren’t able to get any shots on target. Coutinho looked lively, playing some brilliant passes and showing some nice on the ball skill. Henderson also played quite well, combining nicely with Sturridge and Coutinho on a few occasions.

Liverpool started the second half brightly, and it looked like it was going to be a better 45 minutes of football than the first. 3 minutes in, Coutinho played an absolutely sublime through-ball towards Daniel Sturridge. It put the striker clean through on goal, but he couldn’t round Tim Howard, and ended up putting the ball into the side netting. Two minutes later Enrique created a decent chance, drilling a cross low into the box. Unfortunately nobody could get on the end of it, and Howard claimed the ball.

The most controversial incident of the game happened on 56 minutes. Leighton Baines whipped in a great corner, which was headed powerfully home by Sylvain Distin. However, the referee had blown his whistle very soon after the corner came in, and gave a free kick to Liverpool. It was unclear what Michael Oliver had spotted, but the replays showed Distin to be climbing slightly on his marker, Jamie Carragher. All the same, it was a soft free kick, and in all honesty the goal probably should have stood. Still, as Jamie Carragher rightly pointed out after the game, it makes up for the reverse fixture earlier this season, where Luis Suarez had what would have been a late winner incorrectly disallowed for offside!

The game then died down a little, and to try and rectify this Brendan Rodgers took off Jordan Henderson, replacing him with Fabio Borini. In my opinion, this was a frankly awful substitution. Henderson had been one of our best players, and Fabio Borini has thus far not proved himself to be an asset in any way, especially not grabbing goals! The Italian did not help Liverpool’s attack, and they were penned into their own half for the next fifteen minutes. However, Everton still failed to test Reina. In the last few minutes the game opened up a little, and the Liverpool ‘keeper was finally called into action on 87 minutes, beating away a hugely deflected shot from Victor Anichebe. This turned out to be the last real action of the game, and this wholly uneventful derby ended 0-0.

The goalless draw was probably a fair result. Neither side posed a real goal threat, and Sturridge in particular was simply not at the races. The stand-out players for me were Steven Gerrard and Philippe Coutinho, both of whom showed passing prowess. Gerrard excelled in the long cross-field balls, whilst Coutinho carved open the Everton defence multiple times with some glorious through-balls.

Coutinho has played a key role in most of Liverpool’s games since his arrival from Inter in January, and is fast becoming an integral part of the Liverpool team. If he carries the form he has shown this year into next season and we are able to buy one or two decent strikers in the summer (as our finishing was poor today, and we will have to play the first six games without Luis Suarez), I think we could mount a genuine challenge on the top 4, potentially even the top 3. It was a dull derby on the day, but it did serve to highlight both our strengths and the areas that need improving before the next campaign.

-James Martin

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