Liverpool had to accept a painful loss in the Merseyside Derby against city rivals Everton: 2-0. The dream of coach Jürgen Klopp, to say goodbye with his second national title at the service of The Redsis therefore seriously endangered.
Virgil van Dijk was the only one of the three Dutchmen to have a starting place in the city derby. Cody Gakpo was not even in the selection for a very unfortunate reason (for himself), Ryan Gravenberch – who scored against Fulham last weekend – started on the bench. Liverpool could have drawn level with leaders Arsenal again with a win at Goodison Park, but seemed to be in trouble early on when Everton midfielder Jack Harrison released a brilliant pass with outside right striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin after just five minutes. Alisson Becker’s goal.
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The Brazilian goalkeeper could only prevent the attacker from scoring with a foul, after which referee Andy Madley drew a yellow card and pointed to the spot. However, VAR saved Liverpool: Calvert-Lewin was offside when Harrison sent his pass, causing the penalty and the yellow card to be annulled. It turned out to be just a postponement of execution for Liverpool: after a messy situation in the box, it was former PSV player Jarrad Branthwaite who managed to pass Alisson after half an hour of play: 1-0.
After the break things went from bad to worse for Liverpool. After about an hour of play, Calvert-Lewin was released completely by a corner kick from Dwight McNeil, after which the striker convincingly headed in 2-0. Klopp intervened and brought in Harvey Elliot and Wataru Endo, and later also former Willem II player Kostas Tsimikas, but that was also to no avail. Everton held on and picked up three very welcome points in the battle to stay above the relegation zone.
Liverpool, like Arsenal, now have four games left to play but are three points short The Gunners. Manchester City, which plays the away game at Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday, played two games less than number one and two and is now four points behind Arsenal and one behind Liverpool. Pep Guardiola’s team therefore virtually holds the leading position.
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