Liverpool took on Everton on Wednesday night at Goodison Park and the heat was on Rafa Benitez going into the game, and goodness, did The Reds turn up the heat as they took control of the game early on!
Seamus Colman and Jordan Pickford got in a huge mix up in the first minute and Liverpool earned a corner-kick. Trent Alexander-Arnold whipped the ball in and Joel Matip got his head on it, but unfortunately, the ball went just wide.
That was swiftly followed by a Mohammad Salah chance when he agonisingly got caught in two minds, as he somehow scooped the ball over the bar.
Liverpool then pressed again as Sadio Mané found Salah who had another glorious chance inside the first ten minutes, but it was a chance that was spurned thanks to a fine Jordan Pickford save.
Liverpool’s dominance finally paid off as Andy Robertson found skipper Jordan Henderson and he put a rocket of a shot past Pickford into the left hand corner of the net to leave the Liverpool fans in seventh heaven.
Pickford then rode to The Blues rescue again pulling off a great save from Alexander-Arnold to keep Everton hanging on by their fingertips. Everton got so desperate that as Andros Townsend took on Robertson, he dived and ultimately got himself booked.
Liverpool then added to the Toffees’ misery as Henderson picked out Salah and he cooly finished passed a helpless Pickford. This triggered an exodus from some Everton fans, with a Liverpool side fully in control, as Everton were run ragged in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Mané then had a shot that went straight at Pickford in an epic first 25 minutes for Liverpool. On the half hour mark, Diogo Jota was fouled by Allan which resulted in a yellow card, as Everton began to get frustrated.
In a first-half where Everton created very little, they created one massive opportunity which they had to take and take it they did. Richarlison played in Demari Gray and he slot the ball through Alisson Becker’s legs to give Everton some much needed hope before the break.
Gray then went into the referee’s notebook for a dive and to end what was a frantic first half, Abdoulaye Doucouré had a half chance to equalise, but thankfully, Thiago Alcantara was in the way to preserve The Reds’ lead at half time.
At the start of the second period, Alexander-Arnold went on a marauding run forward and as he looked as if he was going to take the shot on himself, he cleverly picked out Mané but unfortunately, his shot was blocked.
Richarlison then had a shot for The Blues which went comfortably wide, as Everton tried to muster a goal. They huffed and puffed but in the 64th minute, Seamus Colman made a massive mistake, one that Salah pounced upon to run clean through on goal and he slotted the ball comfortably past Pickford to restore The Reds’ two goal cushion.
Liverpool controlled proceedings as they played around the Everton press and the scoring wasn’t finished yet as Liverpool rubbed it in. Robertson played in Jota and he turned superbly before slamming the ball into the Everton net to signal a mass exodus from the Blue fans and leave Bill Kenwright and the Everton hierarchy shaking their heads.
Overall it was a sparkling performance from The Reds and a crucial three points were gained in the race for the Premier League title.
Up next for Liverpool is a trip to the Midlands to face Wolves on Saturday afternoon.
