Dirk Kuyt headed 10-man Liverpool to victory in a fiery 213th Merseyside derby clash with Everton at Anfield.
Liverpool triumph with 10 men at Anfield
Dirk Kuyt headed 10-man Liverpool to victory in a fiery 213th Merseyside derby clash with Everton at Anfield.
The Dutchman was on hand to nod home Steven Gerrard's precise corner from close range in the 55th minute of a blood-and-thunder encounter, with Toffees goalkeeper Tim Howard at fault.
The Reds were reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute when defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini were involved in a crunching challenge.
Greek defender Kyrgiakos went in two-footed, while Fellaini was far from blameless as he caught his opponent high on the leg, but it was only the Reds defender who was dismissed.
Fellaini was unable to continue, with Mikel Arteta coming on in his place, but Everton failed to take advantage of their numerical advantage and struggled to create any meaningful openings.
Referee Martin Atkinson dished out his second red card of the game in the dying seconds as Steven Pienaar, who had earlier been booked for a heavy challenge on Javier Mascherano, saw red for jumping into Gerrard.
Liverpool have now gone seven Premier League matches without defeat, keeping six clean sheets in the process.
By contrast, Everton's nine-match unbeaten run came to an end. The last team to beat them before today had been Liverpool at Goodison in late November and they have now won just two of the last 21 league derbies.
Tone set
The tone for the match was set in the opening 15 seconds with Jamie Carragher's strong but fair challenge on Pienaar which left the South Africa midfielder rolling on the ground holding his shoulder.
Unfortunately, it was only to get worse in the first half as Atkinson's leniency saw a number of over-the-top tackles escape the required action.
Fellaini, competing for the ball, kicked Kuyt in the face as the Dutchman lay on the ground without censure, while Pienaar was only cautioned for a challenge which started at Mascherano's right knee and worked its way down.
Carragher went into the book for going through the back of Pienaar in retaliation while the other booking of the first half went to Kuyt for tripping Landon Donovan.
In between all the flying tackles there was very little football played in the opening 45 minutes.
Gerrard's inswinging fourth-minute free-kick forced Tim Howard to punch out from under his own crossbar while Daniel Agger, on his first appearance for nearly a month, fired a right-foot shot a couple of yards over from a corner.
David Ngog fired a shot well wide after Maxi Rodriguez and Gerrard had combined while late in the half the Liverpool captain rattled Howard's crossbar with a 25-yard free-kick.
For Everton, Leighton Baines' left-footed free-kick was tipped over by Jose Reina while Tim Cahill directed a free header over from seven yards in added time.
Rewarded
Liverpool began the second half well and Ngog saw an early left-foot shot deflected wide by Sylvain Distin.
And they were rewarded in the 55th minute when Kuyt, despite being clung onto by Phil Neville, nodded in Gerrard's corner from three yards with Howard left flapping.
Johnny Heitinga's foul on Rodriguez earned him a booking but Gerrard hit the free-kick straight at Howard.
In the 63rd minute Ngog was replaced by Ryan Babel, who was given a rare outing in his preferred position up front.
Everton manager David Moyes sent on Aiyegbeni Yakubu and Victor Anichebe for Saha and Leon Osman in an attempt to find the equaliser.
A scuffle broke out seven minutes from time when Gerrard caught Pienaar after clearing the ball and bizarrely Atkinson, having not blown for a foul, booked the Liverpool captain and then Anichebe for his part in the retaliation.
Liverpool were content to defend their lead and counter-attack when possible but Reina had to be alert to tip behind Yakubu's shot on the turn.
In the fifth minute of added time Pienaar was sent off after jumping into Gerrard as the hosts hung on to maintain their momentum going into an equally-important match at Arsenal on Wednesday.
| Liverpool |
Team Statistics |
Everton |
| 1 |
Goals |
0 |
| 0 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 3 |
Shots on Target |
3 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
3 |
| 4 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 8 |
Corners |
8 |
| 11 |
Fouls |
24 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
4 |
| 3 |
Yellow Cards |
2 |
| 1 |
Red Cards |
1 |
| 65.1 |
Passing Success |
79.1 |
| 21 |
Tackles |
15 |
| 61.9 |
Tackles Success |
73.3 |
| 39.8 |
Possession |
60.2 |
| 47.7 |
Territorial Advantage |
52.3 |
|
