Match report: Liverpool 2-1 Everton
Andy Hunter is the Guardian’s man on the Merseyside beat and you can read his on-the-whistle report below. Make sure to come back later for a more considered view, including post match reaction and comment from those involved.
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Meanwhile at Old Trafford: Manchester United have beaten Derby County 2-0 in tonight’s other FA Cup tie. Jesse Lingard and Romelu Lukaku with two goals in the final five minutes there.
Full time: Liverpool 2-1 Everton
It’s all over! Liverpool advance to the fourth round of the FA Cup at Everton’s expense, with Virgil van Dijk enjoying a dream debut. After Gylfi Sigurdsson had cancelled out James Milner’s opener, the £75m signing took advantage of a rare rick from Jordan Pickford to head the winner.
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90+4 min: Liverpool’s supporters strike up a chorus of You’ll Never Walk Alone and Bobby Madley puts his whistle to his lips.
90+2 min: Liverpool try to run down the clock, with time running out for Everton. Yannick Bolasie tries his luck from distance and fires over, with Gylfi Sigurdsson unmarked and in a good position calling for the ball to his right.
90 min: Good work from Lookman, who’s looked excellent since coming on. He cuts inside and picks out Bolasie, who steers the ball across the face of goal. Try as he might, Oumar Niasse is unable to get into a position to poke it home.
89 min: Dominic Solanke has picked up a yellow card for some indiscretion or another, as this Merseyside derby slips away from Everton. On the plus side, with Sam Allardyce in charge, the players in blue can almost certainly look forward to a week’s R&R in Dubai, when their Liverpool counterparts are preparing for the fourth round.
86 min: He has few bigger fans than me after his heroics for a wretched Sunderland side last season, but judging him by his own very high standards, I think Jordan Pickford has been very poor tonight. He dived too early for the penalty, has been a bit sloppy with a couple of kick-outs and was earlier caught in two minds over whether to come for a ball that should definitely have been his. Here, he comes for a corner but doesn’t get it, allowing Virgil to head home from eight yards out.
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GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Everton (Van Dijk 84)
He’s done it! Making his Liverpool debut in a Merseyside derby, Virgil van Dijk scores into the Kop end, taking advantage of another error from Jordan Pickford to head home.
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83 min: On the touchline, Sam Allardyce and his assistants, Liverpool old boy Sammy Lee and Everton hero Duncan Ferguson are deep in conversation. I’m not sure what they[’re talking about, but in Sam’s position I’d just do whatever Big Dunc says.
82 min: Everton substitution: Dominic Calvert-Lewin off, Oumar Niasse on. Calvert-Lewin’s played well, considering how little of the ball he’s seen. I like the cut of his jib.
80 min: Liverpool win a free0-kick, wide on the right. Oxlade-Chamberlain aims for Virgil van Dijk, but overcooks his delivery. The ball is half-cleared and breaks kindly for Roberto Firmino, whose shot is blocked by Jagielka’s head.
78 min: Having been bossing Everton completely at one point in this second half, Liverpool find themselves on the back foot as we approach the final 10 minutes. Their visitors’ tails are up and the 8,000 fans in blue behind the goal Everton are playing into are in very high spirits indeed.
77 min: Liverpool double-substitution: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominic Solanke on for Joe Gomez and James Milner.
76 min: Everton win a free-kick wide on the left, almost in line with the edge of the Liverpool penalty area. Gylfi curls the ball into the box, where it’s headed away.
74 min: Hats off to Phil Jagielka, who was ridiculously out of position when he teed up Gylfi Sigurdsson for that fine finish. A less composed central defender might have shot himself, but spotting Sigurdsson in a better position, Jagielka turned his back to goal and played a perfect pass to his team-mate. The subsequent finish was sublime.
73 min: In the aftermath of Everton’s equaliser, Liverpool made a substitution: Gigi Wijnaldum is on for Adam Lallana.
69 min: Well that’s a turn-up for the books. Out of nothing, Everton score a fine equaliser on the counter-attack, with Gylfi Sigurdsson slotting into the bottom right-hand corner after great build-up play from the three team-mates mentioned below. Bolasie sent Lookman up the pitch with a good ball. With Jagielka up in support, the substitute did well to take his time before picking out his team-mate. Rather than shoot himself, Jagielka showed great gumption to eschew a shooting opportunity of his own, instead deciding to pull the ball back to Sigurdsson on the edge of the area. His finish was sublime, as he coolly slotted past Karius into the bottom corner.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Everton (Sigurdsson 67)
Everton equalise! Brilliant play from Yannick Bolasie, Ademola Lookman and Phil Jagielka, who tee up Gylfi Sigurdsson for a fine finish.
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65 min: Dominic Calvert-Lewin tries to get his head to a cross, but is unable to get in front of Joe Gomez, who defends well. Moments later at the other end of the field, Mason Holgate shows remarkable poise to rob Sadio Mane of possession.
63 min: Liverpool win a free-kick wide on the right, which Sigurdsson curls into the Everton penalty area. Virgil van Dijk times his run to perfection and gets a clean header on the ball, but sends it straight at Pickford. That was a glorious opportunity for the big man to score on his debut in a Merseyside derby, but he made it way too easy for the goalkeeper.
60 min: Liverpool turn the screw, looking for the knockout blow that will floor their Merseyside rivals. Moments ago, Pickford had to save well to prevent Robertson scoring after one of his own clearances had fallen nicely for the Scot. Now Jonjoe Kenny is called into action, doing well to clear up at the back with Everton on the ropes.
60 min: James McCarthy is booked for “leaving one in” on James Milner.
58 min: Everton get forward and Karius has a bit of a flap in the Liverpool goal, but the home side go back on the attack. Roberto Firmino crosses from the right flank, picking out Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in a pocket of space in the Liverpool penalty area. Mason Holgate dispossesses him and calmly clears for Everton.
55 min: Through on goal chasing a through ball with Phil Jagielka in hot pursuit, Adam Lallana snatches at his shot and put his low effort wide of the right upright. Jordan Pickford, who is not having one of his better games, should have come to claim that ball. He thought about it, hesitated and allowed Lallana an opportunity the Liverpool midfielder squandered.
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53 min: Robertson and Mane combine down the left flank for Liverpool, with the latter cutting inside before winning his team’s first corner of the match. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain plays the ball to the far post, where Joe Gomez heads well wide from a tight angle. That was a poor effort - he ought to have scored, or at least played the ball back across the face of goal there.
52 min: Everton win a free-kick just inside their own half, but before it can be taken, Wayne Rooney is taken off and replaced by Ademola Lookman. Rooney isn’t happy, but I suspect Sam Allardyce has taken him off before he gets sent off.
50 min: Gylfi Sigurdsson takes the corner, Virgil van Dijk gets his head to it and Adam Lallana gallops off upfield on the counter-attack. Everton get back to put a stop to him.
49 min: Everton win a corner after the ball goes out of play off Andy Robertson, as he leapt to contest a cross into the box towards Dominic Calvert-Lewin from Wayne Rooney.
49 min: Not for the first time this evening, James McCarthy boots the ball out of play while trying to hurriedly pick out a pass.
47 min: Wayne Rooney, already on a caution, is lucky to avoid a second one as he tries to retrieve the ball from Emre Can after being unceremoniously robbed of possession over by the touchline. He fouls the Liverpool midfielder, but avoids a second yellow.
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Second half: Liverpool 1-0 Everton
46 min: Liverpool get the second half started, with no changes in personnel on either side.
Cenk Tosun completes his move to Everton
The 26-year-old Turkey striker is now officially an Everton player and has been talking to the club’s website. “It feels great to be an Everton player,” he said. “I’m really happy to be here and happy that everything is done. I’m really excited to play for Everton as soon as possible. Everton is a great club with a big history and a big culture and I’m looking forward to showing the fans the kind of player I am.”
Meanwhile at Old Trafford: It’s scoreless between Manchester United and Derby County in tonight’s other FA Cup match.
That Holgate v Firmino flashpoint revisited ...
Replays show that after Holgate had pushed Firmino into the crowd and the Brazilian had sprinted back on to the pitch, there were words exchanged between the pair. Something Firmino said to Holgate really enraged the Everton defender, but I have no idea what it was.
That Liverpool penalty revisited ...
Hmmmm. My early assessment that Mason Holgate could have few complaints about the penalty awarded by Bobby Madley was incorrect. Just inside the Everton penalty area, Adam Lallana went to ground very easily once he felt the touch of Holgate’s hand on his waist. There was no pull or no shove, Holgate didn’t do anything wrong and the penalty shouldn’t have been given. On the BBC’s coverage, presenter Gary Lineker and his team of pundits - Alan Shearer, Danny Murphy and Peter Reid - all agree with me, while co-comms man Martin Keopwn thinks it was a penalty.
Half-time: Liverpool 1-0 Everton
The teams troop off for the break in a game that was fairly dreary until James Milner put Liverpool ahead from the spot 10 minutes before half-time. Other talking points: Mason Holgate shoving Roberto Firmino into the stands shortly before half-time and ... well, er ... that’s about it.
45+1 min: The match calms down a bit after it’s first flashpoint, with Liverpool leading courtesy of James Milner’s penalty as we approach half-time. Bar a couple of Yannick Bolasie crosses into the Liverpool penalty area, Everton have offered little or nothing.
43 min: Madley has words with Holgate and Firmino, among others, but allows play to continue without even booking the Everton defender. He can consider himself very lucky indeed, although he’s clearly lost the plot and should perhaps be substituted. To repeat: he quite deliberately shoved Firmino off the pitch with such vigour that the Brazilian was bound to go over the advertising hoarding and into the crowd. He could have done himself a real mischief there.
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41 min: Having been pushed over the advertising hoarding and into the crowd, Firmino clambers back over the board and chases Holgate down to remonstrate him. A few other players get involved, most of them Evertonians trying to usher their team-mate away from Firmino and the referee. Meanwhile over by the touchline, referee Bobby Madley is consulting with his fourth official.
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40 min: Holgate loses his head, shoving Roberto Firmino off the pitch and into the stand as the pair chase the ball. He could get sent off for that.
39 min: Joe Gomez gets down the right wing and drills a low cross into the Everton penalty area. Mason Holgate hoofs the ball into the stand.
37 min: That was a fairly soft penalty to give away, but I don’t think Mason Holgate can have too many complaints about it. With Adam Lallana on the ball and in the Everton penalty area, the defender got his arms around his opponent and brought him to ground. It was completely unnecessary in my opinion, but I would need to see it again to be sure.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Everton (Milner 35pen)
James Milner scores! The Liverpool skipper steps up and shoots a little left of centre, as Jordan Pickford dives to his left. Liverpool are one up.
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Penalty for Liverpool!
We might see one now!!! Mason Holgate grabs hold of Adam Lallana in the Everton penalty area, the Liverpool player goes to ground and Bobby Madley blows for a penalty.
33 min: Another shot from the edge of the Everton penalty area from Sadio Mane, but it’s high and wide. We’ve yet to see a single shot on target in this game from either side with more than half an hour played.
32 min: Another bomb from Jordan Pickford, who launches the ball deep into the Liverpool half. Within seconds, he’s on alert as Liverpool win possession and get forward quickly to congregate around the edge of the Everton penalty area once again.
30 min: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picks up the ball on the right flank, cuts inside with a deft touch but has his pocket expertly picked by a good tackle from Gylfi Sigurdsson.
29 min: Everton play the ball down the right flank for Bolasie to chase, but he gets no change out of Andy Robertson, who seems to have the Everton winger’s measure so far in what is turning into a fascinating duel. The ball runs out for a goal-kick.
27 min: Yannick Bolasie sends two decent crosses in quick succession into the Liverpool penalty area, the second of which is put out for a corner. Gylfi Sigurdsson sends the ball into the penalty area, Liverpool only half-clear and Cuco Martina’s speculative shot from distance heads towards outer space.
26 min: Joe Gomez picks out James Milner with a crossfield pass to the inside left flank. The midfielder drills a diagonal cross/shot through the Everton penalty area, but Adam Lallana is unable to stretch to poke home.
24 min: Decent play from Morgan Schneiderlin, who comes within a whisker of playing Dominic Calvert-Lewin into a shooting position in the Liverpool penalty area. The hosts scramble clear.
22 min: Everton win a free-kick halfway inside their own half for a high Joe Gomez boot on Wayne Rooney. Jordan Pickford lofts the ball towards the edge of the Liverpool penalty area, where Virgil van Dijk beats Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the air.
21 min: James McCarthy intercepts and clears as Emre Can tries to play Roberto Firmino in behind the Everton defence with a neat flick.
19 min: With almost one quarter of the match gone, we’ve had just the one shot on goal, from Liverpool, which wasn’t even close to being on target. Everton get on the ball and string a few passes together around the halfway line, but seem very cautious and reluctant to get too far forward into Liverpool territory.
17 min: Dominic Calvert-Lewin is penalised for a foul on Virgil van Dijk as he attempts to control a ball towards the corner from Mason Holgate.
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16 min: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain runs straight into an advertising hoarding down by the corner flag as he attempts to prevent a ball down the flank from Joe Gomez from going out of play. Goal-kick for Everton.
14 min: Sadio Mane attempts to curl a shot into the top right-hand corner from about 30 yards out, but his wild effort succeeds only in prompting howls of derision from the 8.000 Everton fans behind the goal he was aiming for.
14 min: Good play from James Milner, who dispossesses Bolasie halfway inside the Liverpool half and plays the ball to Andy Robertson, who clears.
12 min: Joe Gomez tries to get forward for Liverpool down the right touchline. Phil Jagielka is having none of it and boots the ball high into the stand.
10 min: Ten minutes into the game and neither side has mustered a shot on goal in a scrappy but reasonably entertaining and hotly contested competition thus far. Bolasie has looked lively operating on the right flank and sends a cross into the Liverpool penalty area, but it’s too close to Lorus Karius in the Liverpool goal and the German claims the ball with a minimum of fuss.
9 min: Pickford tries to launch the ball forward again, but succeeds only in sending it into the stand. That’s an uncharacteristic error from a goalkeeper renowned for his excellent distribution. He duly berates himself.
8 min: Yannick Bolasie tries to tkae the ball around Andy Robertson, who stops him with a meaty challenge that sends the ball out for a corner.l Gylfi Sigurdsson sends it into the mixer, but Liverpool clear before Dominic Calvert-Lewin can control it.
7 min: An early yellow card for Wayne Rooney, who catches Joe Gomez with a very late challenge. Sound the disciplinary tightrope klaxon!
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6 min: Still in the early steps of a welcome return from a long, long period sidelined with injury, Yanick Bolasie takes the ball around Virgil van Dijk and advances into the Liverpool penalty area, but is unable to get a shot off.
5 min: James McCarthy is penalised for a meaty challenge on Andy Robertson in midfield and Liverpool get the ball forward again.
4 min: Adam Lallana is dispossessed by Wayne Rooney, who tries to play a one-two with Gylfi Sigurdsson halfway inside the Everton half. Liverpool regain possession.
2 min: Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford gets an early touch and pumps the ball deep into Liverpool’s half, presumably at the behest of his manager.
1 min: Liverpool get on the ball and play it forward down the right touchline, where Phil Jagielka comes across to head it out for a throw-in. Virgil van Dijk gets on the ball for the first time as a Liverpool player and is immediately applauded by the home fans.
Liverpool v Everton is go ...
1 min: Everton get the ball rolling, playing towards the Kop in the first half. Yannick Bolasie does the honours on Bobby Madley’s opening whistle. Game on!
Not long now: Led by their captains James Milner and Phil Jagielka, the teams march out on to the Anfield amphitheatre, where 8,000 Everton fans seated in the Anfield Road end are adding to a raucous atmosphere. The teams perform the last of their pre-match formalities and kick-off is just a couple of minutes away.
Jurgen Klopp speaks ...
“There is not a lot of good things in January because of the weather, but playing under floodlights against Everton in a Cup match is great,” says Liverpool’s manager. On his decision to hand Virgil van Dijk his debut, he had this to say: “Ragnar [Klavan] and Dejan [Lovren] played a lot in recent weeks and both have minor problems ... nothing serious ... so I thought long and hard about it and decided that Joel is fresh and Virgil is fresh ... not necessarily fine-tuned but he has great experience.” Klopp goes on to say that Van Dijk doesn’t have to do anything particularly impressive tonight, suggesting he just needs to do the basics of his job well.
A debut for Virgil van Dijk: While Liverpool supporters can be forgiven for being excited about seeing Virgil in action, Everton fans and neutrals wouldn’t be human if they didn’t secretly hope the Dutchman has a calamitously comedic debut in which he skitters about like a supporter who’s won a competition where first prize was an evening playing centre-back for Liverpool for a night and ends up conceding a penalty, shanking one or two attempted clearances into his own net and then getting sent off for hauling Dominic Calvert-Lewin to the ground with the striker through on goal.
We may be disappointed. Recent evidence suggests Everton will be ultra-cautious tonight and their manager Sam Allardyce has just appeared on BBC to say his team will not be playing expanisve, open and attacking football tonight. Shock news there, from Big Sam, as anyone who saw Everton’s draw in the league at Anfield will attest.
24 - Tonight is the 24th FA Cup meeting between Everton and Liverpool - more than any fixture has ever been played in the history of the competition. Rivalry. pic.twitter.com/anT9zI1lOU
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 5, 2018
And so to Everton ...
Sam Allardyce has made four changes from the team that lost 2-0 against Manchester United on New Year’s Day. Up front, Dominic Calvert-Lewin comes in for Oumar Niasse, while Michael Keane and Ashley Williams are replaced in the heart of defence by Mason Holgate and Phil Jagielka. Holgate started at full-back against United, but today’s men guarding the flanks are Cuco Martinez and Jonjoe Kenny. Gylfi Sigurdsson and James McCarthy also start, with Tom Davies and Nikola Vlasic making way.
A look at that Liverpool team ...
Jurgen Klopp has opted to pair Virgil van Dijk with Joel Matip in the heart of Liverpool’s defence, which could spell bad news for Dejan Lovren. The much-maligned Croatian must make do with a place on the bench, a state of affairs which may come as a source of disappointment to some Liverpool fans who genuinely thought he might forge a strong partnership with Liverpool’s latest arrival from Southampton. Elsewhere in the side, Sadio Mane has returned from the African Player of the Year Award (he came second behind his currently injured Liverpool team-mate Mo Salah) in time to line up for tonight’s derby. He’ll play on the right of a three alongside Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, behind Brazilian striker Roberto Firmino.
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Liverpool v Everton line-ups
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Karius, Gomez, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Can, Milner, Mane, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Firmino.
Subs: Wijnaldum, Lovren, Klavan, Ings, Solanke, Ward, Alexander-Arnold.
Everton (4-3-3): Pickford, Kenny, Holgate, Jagielka, Martina, McCarthy, Schneiderlin, Rooney, Bolasie, Calvert-Lewin, Sigurdsson.
Subs: Williams, Niasse, Davies, Vlasic, Lookman, Robles, Baningime.
Referee: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire)
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It’s January: And with so much transfer talk currently surrounding both clubs, it could be argued that playing an actual football match is little more than a distraction from the far more important business of buying and selling new players this month. Well if that’s your view, Jamie Carragher has a message for you ...
Reds & Blues forget transfer talk there’s a f*****g derby game in 2 hours! #LIVEVE
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) January 5, 2018
Early team news ...
We’ve heard that Virgil van Dijk will make his debut for Liverpool following his £75m transfer from Southampton, but those hoping to see Cenk Tosun make his debut for Everton have been left disappointed. Despite Sam Allardyce’s hopes that Tosun might play some part in tonight’s proceedings, the Besiktas striker had not finalised the terms of his £27m move to Everton by the noon registration deadline that would have made him eligible for this match.
Liverpool will have to make do without free-scoring winger Mo Salah, who is out with a groin injury, while Philippe Coutinho is out with a a thigh injury that may or may not be related to his potential move to Barcelona this month. Jordan Henderson and Alberto Moreno also remain sidelined, but neither are expected to be seen rocking up at the Camp Nou any time soon. For Everton, Michael Keane is also absent, having lacerated his foot in Everton’s New Year’s Day defeat at the hands of Manchester United.
It's FA Cup time ...
For the 18th time in the competition’s long history, Liverpool and Everton go toe-to-toe in an FA Cup tie. Their most recent encounter came in the 2012 semi-final at Wembley, where Andy Carroll’s decisive last-minute winner earned Liverpool a 2-1 win and a place in the final which they lost to Chelsea. The prize up for grabs tonight is rather less grand: a place in the fourth round. While Liverpool are strong favourites to win in 90 minutes, they have never beaten their neighbours in the FA Cup at Anfield. The two Merseyside teams have met four times in the grand old competition at Liverpool’s home and all four matches have ended in draws. Kick-off tonight is at the rather odd time of 7.55pm (GMT), but stay tuned for team news and build-up in the meantime.
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