In a Merseyside derby filled with a lot of tension and a lot of goals, Luis Suarez stood out in both his ability and his usual antics, scoring a goal, setting up another own goal and scoring a 93rd minute supposed winner, only to be wrongfully disallowed, leaving Everton and Liverpool at a 2-2 draw.
Maybe galvanized by David Moyes’ comments prior to the match about his diving and their effect on the viewrship, Luis Suarez and Liverpool stepped out as the more aggressive side, while Everton mostly based their early attacks on Kevin Mirallas’ brilliance on the left flank and long balls to Marouane Fellaini, who was dealt with pretty well by Daniel Agger.
In the 14th minute an excellent counter attack from Liverpool, who were pushed forward very well by Steven Gerrard and Joe Allen, a Jose Enrique cross reached Luis Suarez waiting on the other side of the box. The Uruguayan simply blasted the ball across the goal line, hitting a stunned Leighton Baines on his shin, scoring the opening goal for Liverpool.
Suarez’ celebration? Reenacting a dive in front of David Moyes. Not exactly the classiest of comebacks, but a funny one nonetheless, at least for Liverpool fans. Everton went into stun mode, as they usually do on derby days when they concede goals they never expect. A Steven Gerrard cross from a free kick six minutes later found Luis Suarez rising high above the rest, planting the ball in Tim Howard’s net.
The difference with this Everton side than in previous seasons? Verve, resiliency A terrible parry by Brad Jones, proving that Liverpool now have two goalkeepers with a confidence problem, allowed Leon Osman to put his team back in the match only 90 seconds later.
The next goal came 13 minutes later, as Everton where wrongly awarded a throw in, quickly made use of to create havoc in a disorganized Liverpool defense, where both Agger and Enrqiue failed to handle a simple pass from Fellaini to Naismith, setting the score at 2-2.
The second half, which saw both sides perform substitutions at the break, was mostly fouls and yellow cards. Everton seemed more focused on trying to win possession and dominate the match while Liverpool, playing in a semi 5-3-2, mostly tired to hit on the counter attack. Raheem Sterling and Luis Suarez were both quite a handful for their markers (Jageilka and Distin) but were both too selfish when they had a chance to put in a good pass instead of a shot at goal.
In the 93rd minute, another Steven Gerrard free kick led to a Luis Suarez goal, which was celebrated before they spotted the linesman’s flag for offside. Sebastian Coates, who headed the ball towards Suarez, was onside. So was the Uruguayan striker, who deserved to score the winner on a day that Liverpool didn’t deserve the win.