Everton 0-1 Liverpool | Mane grabs the late winner

 

It took five minutes of injury time for Liverpool to break the deadlock with Sadio Mane the quickest to react to a Daniel Sturridge shot that rebounded off the Everton post. A quite turgid affair that did not have many scoring chances was decided by the odd goal on account of Mane tackling both Leighton Baines and Maarten Stekelenburg that made Stekelenburg to go off injured. Liverpool are back in second place, six points behind Chelsea.



First Half

The 278th Merseyside derby witnessed a cautious first half from Liverpool as Everton pressed them all over the pitch with ear-splitting noise from the Goodison crowd. On six minutes, Firmino was dispossessed in midfield and Romelu Lukaku was released down the right-hand side but his cross was too fast as Barkley tried to make it quickly into the box.

In the 13th minute, Enner Valencia had a chance from a free kick but he thumped his shot into the wall. Liverpool were finding it very hard to put passes together while Everton had a little over 60% of the possession. Everton almost went ahead in the 23rd minute but Ragnar Klavan made a goal-saving tackle on Lukaku from an Aaron Lennon cross.



The Everton waned after this and Liverpool began to make inroads into the Everton half. Georginio Wijnaldum had the first shot for Liverpool but it was very wayward.



Referee Mike Dean would have been hot under the collar in the 37th minute as Liverpool broke after the Goodison crowd wailed for a penalty after Seamus Coleman’s cross looked to have hit Jordan Henderson on the hand.



Liverpool thereafter moved very quickly to the Everton half  where Divock Origi blasted wide from seven yards out off a cross from Nathaniel Clyne, who was set up brilliantly by a dummy from Sadio Mane.



There were just three incidents when things looked like it was to spark up but things quickly cooled down. James McCarthy thundered into Ragnar Klavan after the referee had blown for a free kick and Seamus Coleman pushed Roberto Firmino into the advertising boards. In the 36th minute, Adam Lallana had a ‘friendly’ chest bump with James McCarthy.



Second Half

Gareth Barry came on at the start of the half for McCarthy, who needed treatment late in the first half. And Liverpool started the brighter as they went into Klopp mode – pressing high and making forward angles to draw the Everton defenders out of position.



The first yellow card of the game was awarded to Dejan Lovren in the 56t minute for blocking off Lukaku’s run. The Belgian forward had pushed the ball into space behind the Liverpool backline.



Mane caused mayhem in the Everton box in the 57th minute as a back heel from Firmino had Maarten Stekelenburg and Leighton Baines in panic mode. Mane tackled both goalkeeper and defender and Stekelenburg had to undergo a lengthy treatment.



Stekelenburg had to leave and was replaced by Joel Robles on 63 minutes with a dead leg. Klavan then went in full-blooded tackle against Barkley that had the crowd in an uproar. At this point both teams were in helter skelter mode with good football the last thing on their minds. Barkley went into the book for a rugby tackle that left Henderson groaning on the deck. On video replay, barkley could easily have been shown for his raking tackle.



A flash point as almost all the players congregated with some shoving and pushing threatening to spark a melee. Coleman was also shown a yellow card for his part in stirring up the fight. Mane was then caught in a sandwich of Barry and Lennon.



Teenage striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin came on for Valencia as Koeman looked for more bite in attack. The 19-year-old had come on for the win against Arsenal last Tuesday. Williams then got a header on a Barkley free kick but he could not generate enough power.



It was Coleman to the rescue with 15 minutes on the clock as Mane passed on to Origi in the box but the defender was at the right place at the right time and conceded a corner kick. A Firmino spectacular was really wayward as both teams created few chances.



Robles had to make a quick reaction save off a shot by Firmino in the 80th minute from a corner as Klopp prepared Daniel Sturridge to go on. Sturridge came on for Origi as Liverpool pushed for the win and three points. Dean tried to defuse the tension by calling Henderson and Barkley.



Idrissa Gueye joined the yellow-carded players as he caught his compatriot, Mane with five minutes on the clock. There was eight minutes added on with consternation from the Everton crowd as they sensed Liverpool superiority.



Barkley got his radar all wrong as Everton bought some time in the Liverpool half. Lukaku got a sniff at a run at goal but Liverpool got the rub of the green as a Sturridge trickled against the post and Mane gobbled up the rebound. There was still time for Coleman to clear a goal-bound Firmino shot off the line. But Liverpool did enough to nick all three points and put a little more pressure on league leaders, Chelsea.