everton liverpool
Football

Premier League 2022-23: Everton 0-0 Liverpool, goalless draw at Goodison Park

Everton were held to a goalless draw in a tense Merseyside derby, as the Blues provided another intriguing glimpse of what the future could hold under manager Frank Lampard.

Conor Coady’s close-range 68th-minute shot was called out by VAR due to a borderline offside ruling. In the first half, Tom Davies hit the post, while an incredible Alisson stop denied Neal Maupay a dream debut goal. Everton’s Jordan Pickford was also outstanding, with fantastic stops from Darwin Nunez, Roberto Firmino, and Mohamed Salah keeping the Blues clean.

Everton played with enthusiasm, quality, and controlled aggressiveness throughout the game, and their adoring supporters cheered them on from the first minute to the last. Salah’s low effort was deflected into the post by the outstanding Pickford deep into stoppage time, saving the Blues from a harsh sting in the tail. As it happened, the game ended goalless, and Everton’s tenacious attempts were met with a lengthy and loud applause from the Goodison Park fans.

The excitement had already been amplified by a rousing team bus greeting, and Everton delivered with the pace and energy manager Lampard desired. In an exciting first half that saw the woodwork struck three times, the Blues were the more purposeful and threatening team. Demarai Gray slipped a through pass into Maupay’s path for Everton’s first chance on eight minutes. The Everton debutant’s attempt went off target, but it was inches away from onrushing Anthony Gordon, who would have had a tap-in at the back post.

The decibels inside Goodison were raised even higher when Nathan Patterson got embroiled in a scuffle with Luis Diaz, with the Liverpool player appearing to strike out at the Scot. Anthony Taylor, the referee, determined that there was no case to answer. Everton also had the first serious shot on goal, with Gordon alighting on a second ball from a corner and blasting a shot towards goal that Alisson did well to save.

Of all, Liverpool has a plethora of talented players and did have some possession in the Everton half. Their assaults were mostly thwarted in the first half by a well-drilled Everton team whose vigilance and good positioning were matched by a never-ending desire to get to the ball and pressure their opponents.

Everton’s assaults, on the other hand, were putting Liverpool’s defence on the back foot, and the Blues came within fractions of opening the score on 32 minutes. Boyhood Evertonian Davies came closest to breaking the deadlock, smacking the post with a spinning outside-of-the-boot attempt from just inside the box. The opposition did make a rush at the conclusion of the half, but Everton owes Pickford’s brilliance for deftly tipping a vicious Nunez shot onto the bar. The Blues keeper couldn’t do anything about Diaz’s shot a few seconds later, and the Goodison crowd held its breath as his shot hit the inside of the post and went out of play.

Goodison Park erupted in the 68th minute as Coady knocked in from close range after a low, driven Maupay cross. That euphoria would be short-lived, as the shot was ruled to be offside following a long VAR review. The second half was a strong, end-to-end battle, with both teams producing chances and Pickford and Alisson demonstrating why they are considered as two of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers.

Liverpool started well, with a soaring drive from full-back Konstantinos Tsimikas clearing the bar from a tight angle, before Nunez volleyed straight at Pickford. Everton eventually regained the zest and fire that marked their first-half performance, and Patterson had a shot deflect agonisingly wide following a lightning-quick assault.

Gray’s explosive run then opened up a fantastic Everton opportunity when he cut the ball back to Maupay. The Frenchman appeared to be on his way to becoming an Everton legend with a debut derby goal, but Alisson produced a brilliant one-handed stop to deny him. Pickford was at his best at the other end, with Firmino twice spectacularly denied by the England goalkeeper. New signee Idrissa Gana Gueye was put into the action at this time and immediately caught up, displaying the dynamic midfield traits that made him a fan favourite during his initial tenure at Everton.

Then came Coady’s disallowed shot, as Everton maintained pressure after a corner and the centre-back finished. Everton were denied a goal due to an offside call for the second game in a row. After Pickford denied Firmino again at full-stretch, the Everton keeper got a fingertip to Salah’s shot deep into stoppage time, deflecting it onto the post. Goodison Park breathed a sigh of relief as the full-time whistle blew, and Evertonians applauded their team’s excellent collective effort.

Jürgen Klopp Manger of Liverpool stated after the match: “Rule number one: if you cannot win the derby, don’t lose it. We could have won it today but we could have lost it in a few moments as well. If you count the amount of chances we had and the amount of chances they had we would probably have been the deserved winner. I think that we had the last chance, which was a massive one, we could have won it then absolutely. Ali had to make two incredible saves and they scored a goal which was disallowed for a small offside, but obviously offside. So, [it was] intense like always and we were ready to fight after a super intense game on Wednesday, we tried to fight. Especially then of course in the second half it looked like an end-to-end game because after our set-pieces we didn’t defend the second balls they had particularly well. We had good set-pieces but we didn’t finish it off or when we got another one we were slightly too open and they used that in these moments pretty well. Apart from that they didn’t cause us a lot of problems or whatever, but we had to dig in deep obviously [and] that’s what we did.”

Kajal S

Kajal S

kajal

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