February 13 – The ultimate Merseyside derby at Goodison Park delivered a farewell to recollect, that includes a dramatic 2-2 draw, a late VAR controversy and a mass brawl that resulted in 4 pink playing cards after the ultimate whistle.
Liverpool supervisor Arne Slot had referred to as for “cool heads” forward of his first expertise of the fixture. As an alternative, he and his assistant, Sipke Hulshoff, grew to become the final males ever despatched off on this historic rivalry at Everton’s well-known outdated floor.
The flashpoint got here moments after James Tarkowski’s stoppage-time equaliser, which despatched the house followers into raptures. The purpose survived a prolonged VAR examine regardless of Liverpool protests that Ibrahima Konaté had been fouled within the build-up.
Tensions boiled over on the last whistle when Abdoulaye Doucouré sprinted in direction of the away finish in celebration, frightening a livid response from Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones, who confronted his Everton counterpart, triggering a mass brawl involving gamers on either side and inflicting the police to get entangled.
Each Jones and Doucouré, already on yellow playing cards, had been proven second yellows after which reds, earlier than Slot, fuming over the officiating, was additionally dismissed together with Hulshoff after a heated trade with referee Michael Oliver over Everton’s equaliser.
The match itself had been a traditional. Beto put Everton forward earlier than Mohamed Salah assisted Alexis Mac Allister’s equaliser after which put Liverpool in entrance. The Reds had been seconds away from an important victory, just for Tarkowski’s late intervention to rewrite the script.
Slot was unable to conduct put up‑match media duties due to Premier League guidelines that forestall a supervisor who has been proven a pink card from talking, however Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk made the membership’s emotions clear on the post-match fracas.
“It was a really massive provocation from one sure participant,” he stated. “All of us noticed it and reacted as a workforce – as we had been in a position to do. You recognize what occurs these days; it turns into one massive tussle. Then it’s not me who has to cope with it, it’s the referee and as we speak I’m not certain he had it totally underneath management.”
Liverpool would have gone 9 factors away from second-placed Arsenal with a victory and Van Dijk admitted: “To concede an equaliser that late is all the time disappointing.
“We noticed the celebrations they’d ultimately, so we all know how a lot it meant for them, however the reality is it was disappointing for us. We saved combating, however ultimately it wasn’t sufficient to get it over the road.”
Nonetheless, Everton supervisor David Moyes insisted his facet deserved a degree and the post-match pink playing cards mustn’t detract from the togetherness proven by his workforce.
He stated: “It was mayhem all recreation, a little bit of an outdated‑normal throwback. The bit after the sport is just not actually what we ought to be speaking about. I’m dissatisfied with Doucouré getting a pink as a result of we’re in need of gamers as it’s. However the place was boiling all night time.”
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