Top 5 controversial moments in the Merseyside Derby

The Merseyside Derby – the fixture between Liverpool and Everton which has the most red cards ever shown in the Premier League eraIn 1892, the Everton FC board walked out of Anfield and their Chairman John Houlding and started playing out of a newly purchased Goodison Park stadium just a mile across on the other side of Stanley Park. Houlding responded by starting a new club, Liverpool – and thus began one of the most famous football derbies in the world.Known as the “friendly derby” for its often-good natured rivalry, with support lines splitting families and colleagues with nary a distinction between religion, geography or political preferences, the derby has gotten slightly more violent and nasty off and on the pitch than it used to be. In the Premier League era, it holds the record for most red cards in any matchup with an astounding 20.Even though the Merseyside Derby has fallen from its former glorious heights in terms of sheer impact on the championship results – especially in the 1970s and 1980s when they had the best two teams in England (and sometimes, even Europe); it still retains all its charm while somehow also becoming the perfect little encapsulation of everything we love and hate about the English Premier League.Played at a fast tempo with dangerously wild and recklessly late challenges and tactics that aren’t always spot-on, the drama is never ending and the hype is always all consuming while controversy is never far away. We take a look at five of the most controversial Derby moments in the EPL era.

#1 Robbie Fowler \"eats grass\"

3 April 1999, Anfield: Everton took everybody by surprise when an absolute screamer from Olivier Dacourt put them up in the first minute, but Liverpool were the better team post that and got their just reward when a penalty was awarded (rightfully) within 15 minutes. As was customary back then, Robbie Fowler stepped up and calmly slotted in a perfect to-the-bottom-corner penalty.

There was nothing calm about his celebrations, though.

Having listened to the away support harangue him with insult after insult on his alleged history of drug abuse, the self-confessed Everton-fan-turned-Reds-legend completely lost it, and crawling on all fours, he mimicked snorting a stretch of the white line that marked the Anfield turf.

After the game ended, his manager Gérard Houllier attempted to explain it away by saying that this was a Cameroonian grass eating celebration Fowler had learnt from teammate Rigobert Song, but no-one really bought that load of tosh. A four-game suspension by the FA and a £60,000 fine by his own club swiftly followed.

Result: The barnstorming match ended 3-2 in favour of Liverpool.

Bonus: Everton could have equalized at the dying moments of the match after David James pulled out an impromptu Rene Higuita impression and rushing out of his box to clear a ball he was never getting to. The ball fell to Kevin Campbell, but his swivel was blocked by a young midfielder wearing no. 28. The young man – playing in his first Merseyside Derby – got up immediately to block Danny Cardameteri’s follow-up shot from rolling into an empty net.

The 18-year-old Anfield Hero’s name? Steven Gerrard.

#2 Handbags at Anfield

27 September 1999, Anfield: In their first meeting post the Fowler incident, Liverpool’s notoriously untrustworthy defence succumbed early on, again. Kevin Campbell’s 4th minute goal gave the Toffees the lead and the match turned scrappy quickly as Liverpool went in search of an unlikely equalizer while Everton sat back, happy to soak up the pressure and then run at that rackety ol’ Reds’ defence.

Then in the 75th minute, it happened. It had been coming for a while with a number of yellow cards already having been handed out for typically rash, over-the-top challenges. But no one could have expected just how spectacularly it would all boil over.

After having been put through, Francis Jeffers had run straight into Sander Westerveld even though the Liverpool goalkeeper had already hoicked the ball away. Unsurprisingly, the big Dutchman didn’t take too kindly to this show of rash exuberance from young Jeffers. What ensued can only be referred to as Handbags – they didn’t really hit each hard enough to seriously hurt anything but a flea – but after 30 odd seconds of exchanging slaps, both were unceremoniously sent off.

Liverpool, having already made their three substitutions, were forced to finish the match with Steve Staunton in goal, who did well to stop a point blank Abel Xavier header with a fabulous save. It would get worse for the Reds, in injury time, when a preposterously rash challenge from the exuberant youngster Steven Gerrard would get punished (and deservedly so) with a straight red.

Result: Everton held on to take home a rare 1-0 win at Anfield.

#3 Graham Poll bottles it

21 April 2000, Goodison Park: It had been one of those days. A terribly dull affair was playing out to its sober, logical 0-0 conclusion when suddenly, with the clock at 91:45, drama erupted.

Sander Westerveld hit a free-kick upfield – one of those kicks where you know the ref will blow his whistle the moment it hits somebody’s head – but something went very wrong for the Dutch goalkeeper. The clearance clanked straight into the back of the retreating Don Hutchison and the keeper stood open-mouthed as the ball ballooned comically back into the unguarded net.

Hutchison himself didn’t quite realize what had happened until the Goodison Park faithful erupted in joy behind the goal. And for good reason, with hardly 15 seconds to go on the stipulated injury time, this was surely a winner. Except, it wasn’t; the referee, Graham Poll, disallowed the goal and immediately called time.

As Poll himself explained afterwards - “As the goalkeeper kicked the ball I blew for time, but in the confusion, in the noise, no one heard the whistle.”

Poll also argued that Hutchison had failed to move back the mandatory 10 yards and had therefore disallowed the goal. Wait, after he had blown the whistle? Why would that explanation even be needed? Oh, and why blow again for full time – after the goal was disallowed – if he had already blown the damn whistle the first time?

Result: 0-0

#4 Mark Clattenburg seeks counsel

20 October 2007, Goodison Park: Sticking to tradition, the 206th Merseyside Derby saw the scoring being opened when some comically inept defending from Liverpool ended with Sami Hyppia curling one into the top right corner – of his own net. There wasn’t anything controversial about that, but Liverpool’s opener came post an incident that certainly raised an eyebrow or two.

In the 52nd minute, Steven Gerrard drove powerfully into the Everton box, only to be brought down by Tony Hibbert. The referee for the day – Mark Clattenburg – walked up to Hibbert seemingly ready to show him a yellow card, only to be confronted by a furious Gerrard who demanded red. This may or may not be unrelated, but Hibbert did end up getting the red instead of the yellow and Dirk Kuyt put away the penalty to draw level. There was no injustice in the penalty – but the red? Goodison Park wasn’t too sure about that.

Their mood wasn’t improved when Kuyt only received a yellow for a preposterously high two-footed tackle on Phil Neville that should have warranted a straight red, no questions asked. It went even sourer when he stepped up to score his second penalty of the day after Neville was sent off for a blatant handball on the Everton goal line.

Clattenburg finished off one of the most inept refereeing displays in Premier League history by ignoring legitimate Everton claims for a penalty deep in injury time after Jamie Carragher quite unmistakably pulled Joleon Lescott down as he was trying to turn and shoot from six yards out.

Result: The nasty, ill-tempered match ended 2-1 to Liverpool.

#5 Luis Suarez dives - Twice

28 October 28 2012, Goodison Park: Arguably it all started on a year earlier when a close derby (Liverpool won 2-0 with a rare Andy Carroll goal and a late goal from Luis Suarez) was decided early on after the referee Martin Atkinson wrongly sent off Jack Rodwell in the 23rd minute.

It had been a fairly innocuous challenge, but Luis Suarez had jumped up and rolled around, as is his wont. And all that unabashed play-acting had convinced the referee. Sure, the FA rescinded poor Rodwell’s red card but try using that to console a devastated Goodison Park. It didn’t help that the second goal, the final nail in the coffin that day, had been bundled in by the divisive Uruguayan.

This merits an entry by itself, but what follows next surely tops it – at least in terms of pure entertainment.

When Liverpool came visiting Goodison again, neither the Toffees faithful nor David Moyes had forgotten Suarez’s antics from last year – Moyes making it a point to tell the press that Suarez had ‘a history of diving’ two days before the big game. Naturally then Suarez was pumped up – and after setting up Liverpool’s opener, nipped in with one himself.

Waving away celebratory hugs from his teammates, he ran straight towards the Everton bench and performed a mock dive right in front of David Moyes. Brilliant football, followed by equally brilliant wit – this was sporting entertainment at its finest. Even David Moyes agreed, stating in his post-match interview that the celebration had been “great” and adding “I quite liked it. It’s the kind of thing I might have done had I scored.”

The Everton manager, though, thoroughly disagreed with referee Andre Marriner’s decision not to punish Suarez for a horrendously spiteful challenge down the back of Sylvain Distin’s ankle earlier in the game. The enigmatic striker stole the show for the duration of the match and even ended the game being a victim of dubious refereeing – for once.

Steven Gerrard’s full-length sprint and subsequent knee slide in front of the away support were made to look foolish after a perfectly good goal by Suarez was ruled out for offside. The captain had been oblivious of the fact that the flag had been raised.

Result: The pulsating match ended 2-2.