Everton derails Liverpool’s title dream with inspiring derby display to virtually assure safety

Everton produced a barn-storming performance on a dramatic night under the lights at Goodison Park to move eight points clear of the relegation zone and put a huge dent in Liverpool’s League title hopes.

Against the backdrop of a pulsating atmosphere, Jarrad Branthwaite pounced in the 27th minute to put the Blues ahead and while Jordan Pickford’s heroics at one end protected the precious advantage, Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed home the killer second goal at the other 13 minutes into the second half.

Luis Diaz came the closest to opening the door for the Reds in Jürgen Klopp’s last Merseyside derby when he fired off the upright with 20 minutes to go but it always felt as though Everton was in control on a memorable occasion, where Sean Dyche’s men became the first Toffees team to beat Liverpool at home since 2010.

Given the miserable history of this fixture for those of a Blue persuasion, this was a game that many had written off, with greater attention being paid to the supposedly more winnable clash with Brentford on Saturday. Dyche, however, had called for a typical derby display, and, having set the team up perfectly, he got one in spades as Everton came out with high-octane intensity.

With greater composure from Abdoulaye Doucouré, the Toffees might have grabbed the lead as early as the third minute but when the ball broke to him via a deflection off Ibrahim Konaté, the Frenchman side-footed disappointingly wide with a reflex effort.

Everton then thought they had been awarded a penalty when Alisson Becker upended Calvert-Lewin in the Liverpool box but the striker had been slightly offside when he latched on to Jack Harrison’s smart ball in with the outside of his boot.

A terrific, goal-saving intervention by Ben Godfrey, who had been preferred to Ashley Young at right-back, cleared Mohamed Salah’s volleyed pass out of his six-yard box in the 10th minute but it was Everton who was carrying the greater threat, terrorising the visitors’ defence from dead-ball situations.

Godfrey should have done better with a header at the back post that he put a couple of yards wide and Calvert-Lewin forced the first save from Alisson with a header but it all came together chaotically when another Dwight McNeil free-kick was only partially cleared and James Tarkowski hooked it back into the box.