Everton have managed to dampen the spirits of city rivals Liverpool by snatching a point. The Blues took the lead in the 11th minute through Beto, only to see it overturned by Liverpool through Alexis Mac Allister in the 16th and Mohamed Salah in the 73rd. Still, James Tarkowski had the final say in this game, hitting the back of the visitors’ net in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time.
A post-match tussle between the two sets of players and staff resulted in Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure and Liverpool’s Curtis Jones getting their second yellow cards, and a straight red for Liverpool boss Arne Slot.
The teams
Everton’s success in avoiding defeat to Premier League leaders is even more impressive after a look at the list of their players unavailable for manager David Moyes’ selection for the game: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Seamus Coleman, Dwight McNeil, Orel Mangala, Youssef Chermiti, and Armando Broja. Liverpool had only one injury absentee in Joe Gomez, as Trent Alexander-Arnold returned from injury to take a place on the bench.
With Jordan Pickford in goal, Tarkowski paired up with Jarrad Branthwaite in the heart of defence, with Vitaliy Mykolenko on the left and Jake O’Brien on the right. Idrissa Gana Gueye and James Garner formed the midfield pair, while Jesper Lindstrom, Doucoure and Illman Ndiaye supported Beto in attack.
For Liverpool, Alisson Becker stood between the posts, with Conor Bradley filling in for Alexander-Arnold on the right, Andy Robertson in the left, and the partnership of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate in the heart of defence. Ryan Gravenberch and Mac Allister paired up in the middle of the park, with Dominik Szoboszlai in a more advanced role. Up front, Luis Diaz was flanked by Cody Gakpo and Salah.
Key moments
Liverpool unsurprisingly dominated possession for most of the game, but they can’t be said to have imposed their way of playing on Everton at almost any point. Quite the other way around, with the Blues putting in a proper fight at every inch of the pitch, and looking to play as directly as possible.
Beto proved quite capable of challenging Van Dijk and Konate in the air – not something many attackers can boast about – and he was able to get his wingers involved in quick attacks quite frequently with powerful and skillful hold-up. However, the way he got on the scoresheet was very different.
Referee Michael Oliver awarded Everton a free-kick close to the middle of the pitch and Branthwaite caught the Liverpool back line on their heels with a clever pass. Beto succeeded in avoiding an offside trap and was off towards Alisson, beating the Brazilian goalkeeper to send Goodison into a frenzy.
But the Premier League leaders were not to be beaten so easily, and it took them only five minutes to get back on level terms as Salah whipped a cross to find Mac Allister’s unmarked run, and the Argentinian produced a wonderful header to find the net and leave Pickford powerless to do anything.
The two teams appeared equal to each other after that, practically until Pickford parried a good shot by Diaz straight into Salah, and the Egyptian delivered a perfect finish from around six yards to put the Reds ahead and silence the stadium. From that point on, Liverpool controlled the flow of the game well and it seemed they would hold on to win without major problems.
But as the contest entered stoppage time, the home team went for all or nothing and their passing was mainly restricted to hoofing from the back line towards Beto and Doucoure, with even Branthwaite occasionally going forward to help in aerial battles. With a minute to go, Liverpool had a fine opportunity as Salah broke on the counterattack, but the Egyptian went down under contact just outside Everton’s box and Oliver saw no foul there.
Everton were thus given the opportunity to try one more time very late on. Eventually, a cross from the left found Tarkowski at the far post, and the experienced centre-back slammed it under the bar in the dying seconds of the match. This time the stadium exploded fully, and when Liverpool, after a lengthy VAR check for offside and a possible foul in the buildup, were given the green light to kick off from the centre, Oliver quickly blew the final whistle.
Oliver’s mistakes
There was a large number of contentious decisions from the 39-year-old referee throughout the match, several minor mistakes early on against both teams and no less than five yellow cards in the first half. One of those was given to Everton midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye, who would go on to commit two clearly bookable offences later in the match and not receive a second card for either. On the other hand, Liverpool right-back Bradley could also have received a second yellow and didn’t.
Everton had a penalty claim in the second half as most of the stadium screamed, believing Konate to have played the ball with his hand, but on closer inspection it was obvious that Beto had handled it first.
But the mistakes Oliver made that actually impacted the outcome of the match were rather severe. Just before the opening goal, the referee penalized Mac Allister for a perceived foul on Ndiaye, even though there was no contact between them at all and the Everton winger had already released a pass forward before he tumbled to the ground. Szoboszlai was later penalized four another perceived foul in Ndiaye, who picked up an injury serious enough for him to leave the game, even though the injury was actually the result of Ndiaye kicking the ground.
The moments that caused a proper uproar came late on. It’s difficult to explain why the foul on Salah, just before Tarkowski’s equalizer, wasn’t given, even though Oliver was close enough to see it clearly. The Liverpool winger obviously moved the ball away from Carlos Alcaraz, who subsequently swept his leg off the ground. And then, as Everton substitute Tim Iroegbunam whipped the last cross of the match into the box, Konate rose high in the air to clear and got pushed in the back by Beto – another foul which Oliver failed to give, resulting in Tarkowski’s equalizer.
Unpleasant full-time scenes and mocked officiating
As the final whistle blew, Liverpool players, staff and supporters were clearly distraught with what had happened, and Doucoure felt the need to enrage them further. He went towards the section of the stands where the visitors’ fans were to taunt them, and it prompted an unwise and far too aggressive reaction from Liverpool substitute Curtis Jones. The two of them got into a tussle, and as other players from both sides joined the fray, Oliver showed them a second yellow card each. The referee was then a target of some reportedly abusive language from Liverpool boss Arne Slot, who was shown a straight red for that.
Nothing can justify the way Jones and particularly Slot behaved, and Oliver was well within his rights to send both of them off. That said, this is one of the many, many reasons why the football authorities in England must address the seriously fallen officiating standards in the Premier League.
Piers Morgan, an English broadcaster who started his media career at The Sun, hated fiercely in the city of Liverpool, who publicly supports Liverpool’s title-race rivals Arsenal, tweeted a picture of Oliver after the game, with the caption “my hero”.
My hero. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/cKeBzxIaP0
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 12, 2025
The fact that this sort of mockery exists in the league widely considered the best in the world is worrying indeed, and though Morgan was clearly happy with Oliver’s mistakes, Oliver won’t have been too happy about Morgan’s tweet. Nor will the Premier League, or the PGMOL.
Liverpool need to move on
Dropping a win and two points in this fashion in a city derby, especially a historic one like this – the last ever on Goodison Park – will feel like defeat for Liverpool. However, the Reds need to move on and leave the disappointment behind as soon as possible, with four matches to come in the next fortnight.
Slot has received a two-match ban for the red card, and the FA are contemplating further action against the Reds boss that might see him suspended for more than that. It will be difficult enough, coping with his absence on the touchline, without the players’ minds dwelling on the unfortunate (from their point of view) ending of the Goodison era.
Looking on the bright side, Liverpool now have a clear seven-point advantage over Arsenal in the title race and remain firm favourites to lift the trophy. If they do, it will be a chance to parade it all around Goodison, but at the moment, they need to focus on Wolverhampton Wanderers coming to Anfield on Sunday.
Obscured slightly by the negative emotions, Mo Salah has grabbed another goal and another assist, and at this rate – never mind the Premier League Player of the Year award – he could be in serious contention for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
Hard work awaits Moyes amid “big club again” talk
Speaking to the press after the match, Everton boss David Moyes said the Blues aim to be a big club again. Well, celebrating a draw at home against any rival, especially a city rival, is hardly a mark of a big club, which highlights the length of the road Moyes and the rest of the club need to take before getting anywhere near that attribute.
The point they’ve earned in this derby has moved Everton 10 clear of the relegation zone, a rather comfortable position at this stage. The fight to avoid the drop is not over yet, however, and much like Liverpool, they have to move on from this game, look ahead, and start worrying about their trip to South London to face Crystal Palace on Saturday.
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