Rarely can a draw have felt quite as much a defeat for Liverpool. But when the emotions begin to subside following a dramatic last Goodison derby, it would be foolish for the Reds to linger too long on the controversial finale.
Mind you, after waving goodbye to their neighbours’ home 131 years after their first visit, it might be the same length of time again before the Reds fully accept what happened during the last minute.
They will have two main gripes. There will be questions over the additional time period being extended by such a significant amount, even allowing for the pause in play following the clash between Charlie Alcaraz and Jarrad Branthwaite. But the real poser was why Beto was not penalised for what appeared a push on Ibrahima Konate before James Tarkowski slammed home at the far post to seal a 2-2 draw.
The murmurs that swept through the Everton supporters when, after being awarded, the goal was replayed inside the stadiums spoke volumes. They knew it was an iffy call.
Abdoulaye Doucoure’s unwise post-match taunting of the away end saw what was a bubbling resentment – primarily from both teams towards hapless referee Michael Oliver – finally boil over into an unseemly spat, with Doucoure, Liverpool substitute Curtis Jones, head coach Arne Slot and his assistant Sipke Hulshoff all dismissed.
Being without Slot on the touchline and the services of Jones for Sunday’s visit of Wolves are two tangible negatives from
The biggest mistake Liverpool made, though, was allowing themselves for too long to be dragged into the kind of scrap in which Everton, particularly under David Moyes, have so often excelled.
So much for the cool heads Slot had called for before the game. The chaos of the evening meant there was little chance of that and, with Oliver’s grip on proceedings slim at best, it wasn’t until the final quarter that the Reds’ class began to show, most notably with Mohamed Salah’s brilliantly-taken second goal.
The manner in which that wasn’t sufficient to claim victory will rankle, although Liverpool cannot be absolved from blame for being unable to see the game out. Slightly more patience was required in the closing stages but, in truth, overall the draw was a fair reflection of a frantic, low-quality encounter.
Yes, that final minute will hurt. But the bottom line is the Reds have now negotiated one of their toughest remaining fixtures, remain unbeaten on the road in the Premier League and have stretched their advantage at the summit to seven points. On to the next.
