Match Reports
EVERTON 2-3 LIVERPOOL The 164th Merseyside Derby ended in a win for the Red half of the city after a thrilling game that saw 5 goals, 12 bookings, 2 penalties and a sending off! The game started with a bang, with Gemmill putting in a strong challenge after 5 seconds on Gerrard, then Fowler saw himself ruled out through offside, and then Everton went on an attack of their own and eventually won a corner. And all that in the first minute! It was only a matter of time before the first goal arrived and it was Heskey with it, after 5 minutes played. Hamann played the ball through for Heskey to run onto, and the big forward fired the ball past Paul Gerrard in the Everton goal. Before half time though, Everton were level, with Duncan Ferguson scoring his first Derby goal since his return to Goodison Park. Though it took Liverpool 12 minutes after the start of the second half to restore their lead, and did so thanks to Markus Babbel from Robbie Fowler's cross. And Fowler had a chance with a penalty just 2 minutes later to give Liverpool a 3-1 lead after he had been fouled by Gough. But the spot kick his the post to the delight of the Everton fans as their team fought to get back into the game. With 77 minutes on the clock, Igor Biscan received his second red card of the year and it was for a second bookable offence, with the Croatian paying the price for picking up an early booking in such a competitive game. And the Liverpool misery appeared to be complete when Everton grabbed a late equaliser, scored by David Unsworth from a penalty that was given away by Hyppia who was adjudged to have fouled Ferguson in the area. The decision saw Carragher and McAllister booked for arguing and it looked like it was going to be another 2 points dropped for Liverpool at such a crucial time of the season. However, the drama was not over, and it was to come from the book of Gary McAllister, who scored a long range injury time free kick to give Liverpool a massively important win, and one which also gave Liverpool their first double over Everton since 1990, ironically the year when Liverpool also did the double over Man United prior to this season. The result moves Liverpool above Chelsea into 5th place. Ipswich are 6 points clear of Liverpool in 3rd place, and Leeds are 3 points ahead of The Reds in 4th place. Both Leeds and Liverpool can join Ipswich on 59 points if they win their games in hand to make it an extremely close race for the all important 3rd place. At present, Liverpool have a superior goal difference to both of their rivals but with 5 games to go, things could still change. View match pictures from this game!
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