Football writer Alex Keble analyses the thrilling 2-2 draw between Everton and Liverpool in final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
We weren’t prepared for this. Yet perhaps we should have been.
As the seconds ticked down on the final Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park it seemed certain that Mohamed Salah’s genius would yet again be the defining feature. But no.
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It turns out everything leading up to the 98th minute – every moment of a feisty derby under the floodlights, every meaty challenge and lumped ball forward, every plot point in an enthralling old-school Premier League match – had been the setup for one final and remarkable twist.
James Tarkowski’s thunderous volley in the dying moments provided the fairy-tale ending this grand old stadium deserved and provided a fitting end, too, to an absorbing blood-and-thunder game on Merseyside.
Goodison Park gets the perfect goodbye for Everton fans
Two red cards that followed the equaliser was in keeping with the carnage and the fury of this match (“a bit of a throwback”, as David Moyes said on TNT Sports), but nothing captured the energy of the derby better than Tarkowski’s brilliant and bonkers final flourish.
“Let it rip” was all that went through Tarkowski’s mind, as he told TNT Sports after.
That he did. And across the 90 minutes so did Everton, who were all in from the start.
Abdoulaye Doucoure and Beto were bullies up front, unsettling Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate; Jarrad Branthwaite was exceptional at the back; and Everton’s hounding midfield press never let the visitors settle.
Everton stopped Arne Slot’s team from passing through their compact 4-4-2, and more importantly continued to press, win 50-50s, and out-jump the league leaders right to the end.
In fact the hosts out-shot Liverpool 10-6 while restricting them to a pass completion of just 83 per cent, their second-lowest in a Premier League match this season.
Slot takes some of the blame for instructing his players to hit lots of long balls into the final third, which served only to disrupt Liverpool’s rhythm when a calmer possession game might have killed the atmosphere.
Liverpool long passes v Everton
But we should not focus on what Liverpool got wrong. This was a gutsy Everton performance that deserved its killer moment and perfect send-off.
And yes, though it wasn’t a winner, it was perfect.
The scenes when Tarkowski’s shot hit the net will live forever in the memories of those present, the supporters' celebrations and elation at the end is all part of the folklore now.
It’s a story Everton supporters will never tire of telling, will never tire of replaying in their heads.
Not just because Everton’s captain scored the final goal in a Goodison Park Merseyside derby, not just because it was in the 98th minute, and not just because it was one of the great Gwladys Street end goals.
On top of all that it was a goal that, just maybe, dented Liverpool’s title challenge.
Liverpool enter crucial fortnight run on the back foot
As Doucoure cupped his ears to the travelling fans the tensions boiled over. What followed could have long-lasting ramifications.
Liverpool cannot allow this moment – their sense of injustice about the goal, Slot’s livid reaction, Curtis Jones’s second yellow card – get under their skin.
The next fortnight calls for the serenity that has defined their title push up until now.
Liverpool play another four Premier League fixtures over the next 14 days, including a home match against Newcastle United and trips to Manchester City at Etihad Stadium and Aston Villa at Villa Park in what now looks to be the defining period of their campaign.
They never took their game in hand for granted, of course, but the thought of a nine-point Liverpool lead always loomed over the 2024/25 campaign.
It is now just seven points, a figure Arsenal must believe can be clawed back, even without Kai Havertz.
Liverpool need to shake this one off and move on, and to do that they need only focus on what was so nearly the story: Salah, yet again, providing the magic in a tough encounter.
His record breaking assist was wonderful and his goal a spectacular stunning dead of a loose ball that turned a small chance into an almost-winner, taking his tally of goal involvements to 36 in the Premier League, 62 per cent of Liverpool’s total.
They are still very much in control of things, and with Salah in the team must believe they can overcome any obstacle.
Well, almost any obstacle.
Tarkowski’s volley is an iconic Premier League moment; an instant classic. That will always be the case for Everton fans.
But if Liverpool wobble now, with trips to Villa and City their fixture list gets that little bit harder over the next jam-packed fortnight, then come May it could turn out to be a goal that lingers across the city; that gnaws away at every Liverpool fan who wonders what might have been.
