Football isn’t a funny old game, as the old adage might lead you to believe — it’s days like these that you know it’s a cruel one.
Steven Gerrard sent Anfield into raptures with a trademark free-kick that all but put a stamp on Liverpool’s dominance in a tense Merseyside Derby, but Phil Jagielka’s picture perfect injury-time blast from a full thirty-yards out left the boys on the Kop slack-jawed as it swerved past a diving Simon Mignolet at speed before bulging the top corner. It wasn’t the banishment of 15-years of Anfield misery Everton so hoped for prior to kick-off, but with three points looking certain to be added to their neighbours tally, it’s better than they expected — and far more than they deserved.
Or, is that the other way around? There’s no question that the Reds were left to rue their missed chances as they once again failed to kill off the opposition when they had the chance. Mario Balotelli, who made no question of his loyalty by shaving the iconic liverbird into the side of his head, would have punctuated this point in its entirety when his effort from a well worked Raheem Sterling cross hit the bar with the goal gaping not long after he watched his captain open the scoring, but to be fair, there were far too many opportunities before that to pick on the Italian’s bad luck.
For all the questions surrounding Toffee’s ‘keeper Tim Howard following his poor showing against Crystal Palace last weekend, the American answered each and every one of them on a ground where he conceded four goals on his last visit. A Balotelli free-kick from distance was pushed away, Adam Lallana’s header from Gerrard’s corner was kept out in spectacular fashion, Jordan Henderson saw a thunderous drive sting the shot-stoppers palms, and when the midfielder played Raheem Sterling into space, he was on hand at the near post to deny the youngster.
You could argue that both sides should have been awarded penalties in the opening half just as well as you could argue that for all Liverpool’s dominance, that Everton did just as well to keep them at an arm’s length. One might even be able to convince me that the visitors should have gone into the break with at least a goal — Romelu Lukaku’s curling shot and Dejan Lovren’s goal-line clearance following Leighton Baines doing the hustle in the box were both genuine heart-stopping moments — but, try as you might, there’s no way to persuade me that we got what we deserved.
Gerrard’s free-kick to open the scoring was a story we’ve seen unfold enough times that it doesn’t even need to be recounted. You’ve seen him do it before, and though it doesn’t get any less magnificent, even if you didn’t catch the match, you can close your eyes and picture it better than I can describe it. It was a bit of magic, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Although the Reds remained the dominant side and continued to create chances right up until the end, it was the last pass, that bit of skill or two inches one way or the other that was the difference between doubling the lead and hanging on for a nail-biting finale. With a single goal separating the sides going into injury time, it was the latter of the two scenarios that played out — and we paid the price for that.
You don’t often hear Jagielka’s name in the same breath as anything even remotely related to beautiful football, but there’s no possible way he’ll forget that strike. As the clock ran down, Aiden McGeady’s dangerous cross was headed away, but only as far the 32-year old and, from a full thirty yards out, his shot — well, you know the rest.
It wasn’t easy to talk about how evenly matched these two teams were in my match preview and it’s almost as hard to recount the draw in this reaction. The fact that Liverpool were the better side over 90-minutes is of little solace and that’s especially true when the points are divvied up after it looked certain that all three would be in our greedy hands by the full-time whistle.
If football is a funny old game, I’m not laughing.
–Steven
