Liverpool 2-0 Everton (Salah 75′, 90+7)
Only Mohamed Salah could decide an otherwise drab Merseyside derby, as Liverpool overcame a resolute 10-man Everton side to temporarily top the Premier League.
The only notable event of an end-to-end first half of little quality was Ashley Young picking up his second yellow card for a cheap foul on Luis Diaz just outside the penalty area.
Sean Dyche’s side shut up shop in the second half and would have stopped Liverpool from scoring in a competitive game for the first time since April had Michael Keane not stuck his arm in the way of a Luis Diaz cross.
Salah drove the resulting penalty hard and fast into the top corner of Jordan Pickford’s goal, before finishing off a counter-attack late on. This means Liverpool overtake Arsenal and Tottenham at the summit of the Premier League at least until the Gunners visit Chelsea this evening.
Despite Dominic Calvert-Lewin heading at Alisson within the first minute, Liverpool had the better opportunities of the early exchanges. Salah uncharacteristically miscued a shot in the penalty area he appeared sure to score after just four minutes.
Shortly after, Kostas Tsimikas – making his first Premier League start of the season after Andy Robertson was ruled out with a shoulder injury – curled a dangerous ball towards Diogo Jota, who could only head the ball as far as Pickford.
And on 13 minutes, only a desperately sliding Young could deflect Luis Diaz’s low strike over the bar after a cutting Liverpool break following an Everton corner. It appeared to be only a matter of time before the Reds broke the deadlock.
Yet from there, the first half fell into a familiar rhythm of two teams more comfortable without the ball than with it – a scrappy, end-to-end affair of few chances.
That pattern was broken by Young’s lazy foul on 37 minutes. The former Aston Villa full-back became the 29th player to be sent off in a Merseyside derby and made his side’s already gargantuan task almost impossible.
At half-time, Dyche replaced wingers Dwight McNeil and Jack Harrison with centre-back Keane and right-back Nathan Patterson in an attempt to stifle Liverpool. Largely, it worked.
Jurgen Klopp’s side struggled to find space or opportunity however they tried. Seven minutes into the second-half, first Salah, then Ryan Gravenberch fired goalwards, both blocked excellently by James Tarkowski. It meant Liverpool only had one shot on target in the first hour of the game.
Everton’s resilience and defensive organisation, especially with 10 men, was reminiscent of Dyche’s Burnley sides and will be a source of huge optimism for Toffees fans.
Yet holding on was always going to be tough, and it proved a step too far as Diaz’s cross fired into Keane’s outstretched arm fifteen minutes from time.
And Salah compounded the visitors’ misery seven minutes into injury time, as Nunez broke with pace and teed up the Egyptian for an easy finish.
Everton have now picked up just seven points from their first nine league games, although there were once more reasons for fans to hope their dire fortunes will improve.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/flomvGF
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