Premier League: Everton v Liverpool full time report
Everton 2 Liverpool 0
Everton recorded their first Merseyside derby win since 2006 after beating Liverpool at Goodison Park.
It was a well-deserved win for the blue half of Merseyside as the red half continue to slump.
Tim Cahill gave Everton the lead 12 minutes before half time, scoring his fifth Merseyside derby goal. He fired in his shot past Liverpool ‘keeper Pepe Reina, who had no chance to make the save.
Mikel Arteta scored Everton’s second of the game early in the second half just as Liverpool were trying to get back into the contest. He was lurking on the edge of the box from a corner, and when he picked up the clearance, he rifled in the shot with Reina stranded once again.
“The form book goes out the window” is always a cliché used for Merseyside derbies, and it certainly did for Everton who showed they were better than their league position stated at the start of play.
Watching from the stands was Liverpool’s new owner John W Henry of New England Sports Ventures, and for his first taste of English football, where better to learn about your new purchase than with a match against the old foe. The problems may have been solved in the boardroom, but the ones on the pitch still remain.
Everton highlighted the struggles that Liverpool have, and as they move away from the bottom four of the table, Liverpool stay in the relegation zone for another week a least.
In the first half, the first real chance came courtesy of Everton, with Phil Jagielka firing over from inside the penalty area after picking up the loose ball on 11 minutes.
Just a couple of minutes later, Sylvain Distin of all players popped up in the box with a shot on his left-foot after swivelling away from the Liverpool defence, and his shot was deflected over the bar.
Everton always begin well at Goodison Park, getting in your faces and putting pressure from the front. Like they did against Manchester United, they were hustling their local rivals all over the field, with Liverpool unable to get into the game.
Midway through the first half, Fernando Torres had Liverpool’s first effort of the game, with Everton ‘keeper Tim Howard tipping the Spaniard’s header over the bar.
Yakubu starting up front for Everton bulldozed his way past Raul Meireles and ran from the halfway line, but his shot was comfortable for Liverpool Reina.
With Liverpool winning more battles in the court than on the field this week, they slowly got back into the first half, keeping the ball better but not troubling Howard’s goal.
Cahill broke the deadlock on 33 minutes after firing in Seamus Coleman’s cross into the top corner. Coleman made a positive forward run down the right, and his cross found the Australian, who hammered his shot past Reina.
The introduction of Kevin Campbell to the home fans during the half time interval cheered up the fans for a bit, who were more than happy about their team’s performance so far.
A minute into the second half, Liverpool’s Maxi Rodriguez hit a shot straight at Howard, which was only the second save he had to make in the match thus far.
Arteta doubled Everton’s lead four minutes into the second half. He collected the ball from a Liverpool clearance from a corner, took the ball down and thumped the shot past Reina. It was a superb goal and showed all of Arteta’s quality technique.
Meireles looked to get a goal back for Liverpool, but both of his shots didn’t cause Howard any problems. Torres was not at his best, and his ability seems to have been taken away from him. His volley that went extremely high over the bar conveyed this past the hour mark.
Joe Cole was not getting into the game at all, but he came to life on 67 minutes. He cut infield from the left and wriggled his way past the defence. However his shot like Torres’ went over the bar.
Torres almost found a goal, as Howard intercepted a cute Steven Gerrard pass eight minutes before time. Then five minutes later, he forced Howard into a decent save as well.
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has failed to win a game away from home as manager of both Liverpool and Fulham in the last 22 games, and the alarm bells will start ringing, especially after the reaction he got from a minority of Liverpool fans during their last game in the defeat at home to Blackpool.
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