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Liverpool failed to collect all 3 points at Anfield on Sunday as they struggled to find the back of the net in a rather uneventful Merseyside derby. We’re quite used to seeing an exciting 90 minutes when this fixture comes around but not this time. The most controversial moment of the game was a disallowed goal from Distin.
A lovely gesture from Liverpool at the start of the game saw The Kop end create a mosaic saying “Thanks” to Everton.
Liverpool’s Luis Suarez had to settle for watching from the stands with his wife and daughter whilst Daniel Sturridge led the line. Coutinho was again chosen to start and Borini was on the bench once again.
The first half on Sunday was barely anything to write home about. Surprisingly, there was no real sense of urgency in a game that usually sees the excitement get the better of most players. Steven Gerrard, Coutinho and Sturridge were perhaps the most lively however.
Coutiho and Gerrard supplied some superb passes, some from yards away up the other end of the pitch. But unfortunately, the set ups weren’t enough to encourage Daniel Sturridge to get his shooting boots on. The forward had a bit of an off day on Sunday and despite having several chances, he struggled to get them on target.
As mentioned in the first paragraph of this post, the most controversial moment of the game was Everton’s disallowed goal in the second half. I’ve looked at the incident a couple of times and I have to admit I think the referee has been extremely harsh for this one. I can understand why Everton feel hard done by and to be honest. if they’d of collected that goal. I’d struggle to see Liverpool gaining one back.
The Reds saw Steven Gerrard have some chances a couple of times throughout the match but most significantly when a shot from him was cleared off the Everton line by the man who’s goal was disallowed earlier; Distin.
Coutinho was again impressive for Liverpool but the ex-Inter man didn’t really get many chances in front of the goal mouth. His play outside of the box, though, was as always brilliant and really his team mates should have been producing more with the pin point balls he was delivering.
Fabio Borini was brought into the game late in the second half but the Italian couldn’t quite find enough to put Liverpool in the lead, his goal against Newcastle must have filled him with some confidence but it was clear that Everton were going to be hard to break down.
By the final whistle, it was clear that this had actually been a hard fought draw and the Reds really could count themselves lucky that they’d collected a point after the disallowed goal. However, on another day, Gerrard’s goal would have found its way in or Sturridge would have been more accurate.
The stats for the game saw it end 50/50 in possession which I think sums up perfectly the kind of game it was. Hopefully Liverpool can improve on their performance when they face Fulham next week.
