Match Reports
Liverpool 1-1 Everton Liverpool and Everton cancelled each other out in a game which both sides were desperate for 3 points, for vey different reasons. The first half just was just about edged by Liverpool, although there was rather a lack of goal threats at both ends of the pitch as each side looked to be more concerned about making sure that a goal was not conceded rather than being too adventurous in looking for one themselves. Nicolas Anelka, who started the game ahead of Heskey, was Liverpool's brightest player in the final third of the pitch, and had a couple of first half opportunites. The first, which was the first shot of the match by either team, was a right foot shot which he hit early and from just inside the right corner of the panalty area, but which hit the side netting although even had it been on target, the shot would have had to have been something special to beat the keeper from the distance and angle from which it was hit. The second was from a through ball which Anelka chased into the penalty area, but by the time he was about to lauch another attempt at goal, Steve Simonson had charged off his goal line and eventually made a good block. Everton's forwards made little impression on the game and Kirkland, playing his first Premier League match in the absence of Dudek, was relatively untroubled, with only a couple of crosses to deal with. Walter Smith made a couple of changes at half time. Tomas Radzinski and Thomas Gravesen were both brought on after both making a return from injury and it was only 6 minutes before the Canadian striker had made his mark on the game. A cross by Pistone to the edge of the penalty area found Radzinski who, despite not hitting the ball as cleanly as he perhaps would have liked, managed to put the ball just inside the post in the Anfield Road goal, and send the away fans wild. It was the first goal conceded in the Premier League for Liverpool since the 1-1 draw with Southampton, also at Anfield, and dashed any hopes of a fifth clean sheet on the trot. Immediately following the goal, it was Phil Thompson's turn to ring the changes, and Emile Heskey replaced Stephen Wright, with Riise filling the gap in defence and Heskey replacing Riise in midfield. That substution looked to have breathed a bit of life into Liverpool's performance and Heskey was a constant problem on the wing, combining well with Riise, who also got forward often. But with Everton defending in large numbers and leaving little room behinf them for Owen or Anelka to exploit with their pace, it looked a difficult task for Liverpool to turn the game around. Chances still fell to the forwards though, and with Owen coming close with a close range header and seeing another effort clocked, Liverpool may have felt as though they could have drawn level earlier than the goal which did finally arrive. With less than 20 minutes remaining, Murphy played a pass through the Everton back line and Anelka was first to it, sliding a neat finish past Simonsen and into the net. It was a deserved reward for Anelka who, on his derby debut, had looked the most lively of all Liverpool's attackers. Liverpool continued to put pressure on the everton goal, and almost snatched a win when a draw was looking almost a certainty. From one among a succession of corners taken by Riise, Murphy powered a header from only 6 yards out which was heading just under the cross bar until Simonson made a terrific one handed save to earn his team a point, and shortly after, Kirkland was also forced into a flying save, this time from a shot by Radzinski. Dietmar Hamann was my vote for Man of the Match for a top drawer performance in the centre of the park which even Gerrard would have been plased with had he not had to sit out the match through injury. In the end though, the Reds just didnt do enough to deserve the victory and despite it being a thoroughly disappointing result in the chase for the Championship, a draw was no more and no less than either side deserved.
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