Everton 0-3 Liverpool
Gerard Houllier led his Liverpool team to a fourth successive win at Goodison Park yesterday, and in doing so became the first ever manager to achieve such a feat.
The side which took to the Goodison pitch was unchanged from that which had played so well earlier int he week against Spurs but come away with little to show for their efforts, meaning a stay in the side for Biscan, Baros and Smicer, with Murphy and Riise remaining on the bench. Emile Heskey also made it into the squad of 16 after recovering from the minor injury which had kept him out of Liverpool's previous game.
The opening stages of the game was a rather scrappy affair with the best chance falling to Tomas Radzinski who fired a low shot across goal and wide of the far post. Harry Kewell had a couple of opportunities for Liverpool which he put over the bar, and the Aussie saw another shot bravely blocked by Gary Naysmith, a player lucky to have stayed on the pitch following a reckless challenge on Diouf in the second minute.
As the half wore on, Liverpool were enjoying more and more possesion in the Everton half, but rarely managed to do anything productive with the ball and in winning the ball back, Everton were happy to launch long balls for Rooney and Radzinski to chase but found the Liverpool defence more than able to cope. Igor Biscan in particular had a fantastic game and the highlight of his performance was a challenge on Radzinski in the area when the Canadian looked to have beaten Biscan. It was a challenge in which the timing had to be perfect, and it proved to be exactly that, as Biscan calmly poked the ball to safety.
The Reds started to take control of the game as half time approached though, and Michael Owen put Liverpool ahead on 39 minutes, finished a move which had involved most of Liverpool's outfield players as they passed the ball around from out of defence and it was Kewell who split the Everton defence with a ball through to Owen before he struck a precise shot past Steve Simonsen.
As in the same fixture last year, Owen's goal in front of the Gwladys Street end was the only goal of the first half, although Wayne Rooney had a chance to equalise before the break when left with only Dudek to beat but the 17-year-old was stretching for the ball and could only knock the ball straight at the keeper. And a quick counter attack by Liverpool finished with Harry Kewell curling a shot aimed at the top corner, which needed a good save from Simonsen to keep it out.
A second goal by Michael Owen saw Liverpool go 2-0 up early in the second half, after good work by Baros on the left when he easily brushed off the challenge of Joseph Yobo before cutting inside the area and setting up Owen with a chance which he took from around 15 yards out to add his name to the scoresheet for the second time in the game.
From then on, Liverpool were always in control of the game, soaking up any pressure placed on their defence by the Blues and counter attacking at every opportunity, with Everton often left short at the back due to the number of players they were getting forward to try and get back into the game.
There were still a few nervous moments for Liverpool though. A free kick by Mark Pembridge was stopped by Dudek, but the Pole was unable to keep hold of the ball and needed help from Sami Hyypia to clear the danger. A corner later in the game saw Dudek called into action again when he had to produce a fine save from a header by Rooney who was stood just 3 yards ahead of him, and the youngster had yet another chance to score his first derby goal but dragged a shot wide with Biscan doing just enough to put him off.
Harry Kewell's well taken goal on the 80th minute, his first for the club, made sure that there would be no way back for Everton as Liverpool continued their excellent derby record under Gerard Houllier, with their most emphatic win to date since the Frenchman arrived at Anfield.
It was the most comfortable margin of victory of any derby win for 20 years, but with 34 games still remaining, Liverpool must producde a similar performance on a regular basis if they're to get their title challenge back on track.
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