Everton prevailed over Liverpool 2:0 at home in a postponed match of the 29th round of the English Premier League. At Goodison Park, the Merseysiders failed for the second time in their last three league games and fell dramatically short of the domestic title to send manager Jurgen Klopp into his farewell season in charge.
The opening minutes were better for the hosts, who went into the derby more fired up, while the Reds made mistakes and unnecessary fouls that stimulated the opposition players and crowd. Dominic Calvert-Lewin was fouled by Alisson in the box and a penalty was awarded. The Brazilian was also shown a yellow card, but subsequently the penalty kick and official warning were rightly overturned after VAR intervened for offside. The Toffees' more active play led to a result in the 27th minute when Jarrad Branthwaite took advantage of a series of poor defensive tackles to slot into an empty net for 1:0. Liverpool fought back with pressure and some good scoring chances in front of Jordan Pickford, but Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz made serious misses.
The start of the second half was again for the Merseysiders, but Klopp's side were scalded in the 58th minute when Calvert-Lewin was left unmarked from a corner and headed home Alisson for 2:0. Diaz was stopped by the crossbar with a fine right-footed shot, but it was one of Liverpool's few good chances for the remainder of the match. Pickford came on twice after shots from substitute Harvey Elliott and Mohamed Salah, and the status quo on the pitch remained unchanged.
Thus, the second championship title under Klopp looks like a mirage in the last season of the German at the head of the team - the Reds are three points behind the leader Arsenal and one ahead of the champion Manchester City, who, however, has two matches in reserve, four rounds before the end of the campaign. Everton, for its part, is already eight points away from the relegation zone and will finish the season more calmly. In the next round, Sean Dyche and company welcome Brentford, while Liverpool visit West Ham.
In Wednesday night's other three games, Manchester United twice fell behind bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United but eventually won 4:2 at Old Trafford. Accurate for the Red Devils were Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes twice and Rasmus Hojlund. Crystal Palace continued their good form of late, beating Newcastle 2:0 at home, while Bournemouth edged Wolverhampton 1:0 at Molineux. /BGNES
