WAIT FOR IT
Liverpool’s title push is delayed by derby draw
LIVERPOOL face an extended wait to claim their first topflight title in 30 years after being held to a 0-0 draw by Mersey rivals Everton last night.
Three points at Goodison Park would have allowed Jurgen Klopp’s men to make sure of their first ever Premier League crown with victory against Crystal Palace at Anfield on Wednesday.
But only if Manchester City fail to beat Burnley at the Etihad tonight can Liverpool reach their goal against Roy Hodgson’s men. It could have been worse if Everton’s Tom Davies had converted a close-range chance late on that was deflected on to a post by Liverpool defender Joe Gomez.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said: ‘They had the biggest chance. I have to admit that. For this reason (to get a draw) we can be satisfied.’
EVEN in an almost empty stadium, it is possible to feel the mood change during a football match. It is possible to feel the collective intake of breath when something important occurs.
Here at ghostly Goodison it happened with a little over ten minutes to go.
Everton, on the retreat here for so long, suddenly had the chance — two to be precise — to win their first derby for almost ten years and only the thickness of the post denied them.
The last time Everton beat Liverpool, in October 2010, the two goals were scored by an Australian and a Spaniard. Here, it was a Yorkshireman and a Scouser who threatened as Dominic CalvertLewin and Tom Davies came so close to doing what Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta managed all that time ago.
Liverpool had been the better team for much of this game. They were nowhere near their best and did not create clear chances. In fact, the best save Everton’s Jordan Pickford made all day was when he touched over a Fabinho free-kick in added time.
Nevertheless, Liverpool were comfortably superior, which is why it was such a surprise to see Everton break from the shadows to almost down them so late in the game.
The move down the left was innocuous enough, Andre Gomes feeding the Brazilian Richarlison into a little space.
But when the cross was delivered low to the edge of the six-yard box, Calvert-Lewin came alive like a true striker, moving off his man to backheel a clever effort across Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson.
The save, on the stretch to his left, was decent enough but still
the ball was only parried as far as Davies. The young midfielder’s shot looked destined for the far corner and it appeared his name was about to enter the folklore of this great fixture.
But instead the ball struck the frame of the goal and rolled clear. Replays showed that Liverpool defender Joe Gomez got a touch. In doing so, he probably saved his team their second league defeat of the season.
It would have been a tough one but Everton’s defensive resilience was admirable all evening and teams that are able to soak up pressure often get something on the break. It would have been hard to begrudge Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
So it was another draw in a Mersey derby. We get a lot of them, especially at Goodison. This one means that Liverpool will have to wait for their title coronation.
If Manchester City beat Burnley at home tonight then a win for Jurgen Klopp’s team over Crystal Palace on Wednesday will still not be enough.
All eyes would then turn to Liverpool’s next game which just happens to be at City eight days later. That already feels like something to savour. If City can beat Liverpool, this title contest really will be dragged out much longer than we ever thought.
By then Liverpool would expect to see Mo Salah back in the team and that will undoubtedly made a difference to their attacking play. Having had an injury, the Egyptian was on the bench here and did not come on as Liverpool chased the game in the second half. Certainly they missed him. His replacement Takumi Minamino did okay but was taken off at half time.
Without Salah, Liverpool’s forward movements simmered without ever really approaching the boil. Their best players were probably the midfield trio of Jordan Henderson, Naby Keita and Fabinho.
They ensured the forwards had a steady supply of ball from which they usually manage to prosper. Not on this occasion. Everton were too well organised, too diligent and too efficient. Liverpool had all the play — almost 70 per cent of it — but the chances were actually pretty well shared out.
Liverpool’s best effort of the first half arrived from the head of central defender Joel Matip following a Trent Alexander-Arnold free kick. He headed the ball wide when it should have gone in.
Roberto Firmino then shot wide when he should have passed left to Sadio Mane, while Minamino turned well to shoot from 16 yards but found Everton defender Michael Keane in the way.
Everton’s forays were more rare but tended to carry a threat. In the six months he has spent at the club, Ancelotti has already sharpened up his team.
In the second half here Richarlison could have scored before the flurry of late activity that had the socially distanced executives jumping from their seats in the directors’ box.
Released down the right by a decisive Calvert-Lewin pass in the 61st minute, he should have done better than spoon a right-foot shot on the run in to the Gladwys Street.
Liverpool’s threat was latent. The longer time went on and the more the endless running began to take its toll on Everton legs, the more you expected something to happen.
Klopp sent on more reinforcements — Divock Origi and Gini Wijnaldum — as he sought victory but Pickford’s afternoon remained more comfortable than he probably anticipated.
Nobody will pretend this was a great game, just as nobody will pretend football is the same without its supporters. We count the days until they return, at the very least to drown out the lone saxophonist who had stationed himself outside the ground.
But derby results still matter and this could have been a big one for Everton. Sleep would not have come easily to young Davies last night.