Everton 1 - 2 Liverpool
Gana Gueye goes flying after yet another Liverpool foul
(Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
Well, the bad thing happened. And it happened in typically heartbreaking fashion — Virgil van Dijk cropping up with a header in the 100th minute to ensure Liverpool took the bragging rights from the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
A 2-1 loss in this fashion, to them, is gut-wrenching, but here are three things we learned from Sunday’s defeat.
EVERTON ARE CURSED
Getting this one out of the way early. While we should not wallow in self-defeatism or derby misery, it is hard not to think that this simply would not have happened against pretty much any other club in the Premier League.
Hill Dickinson Stadium was rocking in the early afternoon sunshine, and the Toffees were the better side right up until the moment Mohamed Salah opened the scoring — that goal coming only a couple of minutes after wild celebrations for Iliman Ndiaye’s goal had been cut short by a VAR check, which deemed Jake O’Brien to have been offside in the build-up.
The Toffees were not brilliant, but their performance definitely merited at least a point. They had battled hard to get back into it through Beto’s equaliser.
But when it comes to facing Liverpool, even when the respective form of the clubs seems to suggest that this might just be the Toffees’ time to shine, Everton just seem to be cursed.
EVERTON NEED BETTER
Thierno Barry and Tyrique George came on to try and swing the game in Everton’s favour — albeit, the former substitution was enforced by Beto taking a knock to the head — but ultimately, neither attacking change made the desired impact.
Barry failed to provide a platform to build off, while George, fresh from a bright cameo against Brentford last week, could not get into the game, and was not swift enough to release the ball when he had it to feet.
If Everton are to get to a level where they can really take advantage when they go into games like derbies, then simply put, the club need to start being bullish in the transfer market.
Last year, Everton spent plenty of money on players to fill out the squad, but bar Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish, none of them have made a real impact, with Barry at least scoring some important goals. That is simply not good enough, and this coming transfer window must be different.
BRANTHWAITE’S ISSUES PILING UP
It looks like Jarrad Branthwaite’s season could be over.
He was having an excellent game, but as the match ended its closing stages, he went down after a bad slip while trying to muscle Cody Gakpo out of play.
The centre-back’s right hamstring appeared to pull immediately, and after receiving treatment, Branthwaite had to be taken off on a stretcher. It was in the time added on because of that stoppage that Liverpool got their winner.
But we now know for certain that Branthwaite needs fixing. If Everton are to get the best out of him, then they need to solve his injury issues. If not, he may not fulfil his immense potential, and the Toffees will be worse off for it.
//
Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer ()
There are no responses so far to this article. Be the first to offer a comment using the form below.
How to get rid of these ads and support TW
© ToffeeWeb