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MOTD- Liverpool 4-0 Everton

By on January 28, 2014

There are Merseyside derbies to remember.  Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Everton the last time the two rivals met for instance.  There are also Merseyside derbies that one set of fans will want to remember, and the other forget as quickly as possible.  Take Everton’s 3-0 win over The Red’s in 2006, or Liverpool’s 7-4 win over The Toffes’ in 1933.  This, ladies and gentleman, was one of those matches. Liverpool fans will attempt to hold it over their counterparts at Goodison Park for as long as possible, while Everton fans can’t have the next match to come quickly enough to make their memories of losing 4-0 at Anfield while also losing their man man Romelu Lukaku to injury fade in the distant past.

Only two minutes in at Anfield the Everton faithful could sense it might not be their night as Steven Gerrard, who never fails to impact Merseyside derbies, sent a sweet dipping long-range volley towards goal only to see Tim Howard turn it inches wide of the post at full stretch.  Just fifteen minutes later Everton hearts endured another lurch when Raheem Sterling was put in on goal down the left via a Daniel Sturridge poked through ball, with Howard just managing to stop the forward’s low effort from nestling into the bottom corner with his right leg.  As expected, considering the run of play largely favoring Liverpool, the opener for The Reds came only twenty-one minutes in as Luis Suarez’s whipping corner from the left found the head of Gerrard, who powered an accurate header into the top left corner from the near post to silent the away section while sending the rest of the stadium into a frenzy.

Six minutes later Liverpool nearly doubled their lead when Suarez cut it back to Sturridge at the top of the box from the left for the English international to curl a beautiful effort inches over the bar.  Phil Jagielka then forced Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet into a good block to parry the full-back’s firm effort from the edge of the box away and Kevin Mirallas drove a low daisycutter millimeters wide of the Liverpool goal from twenty-five yards a few moments later, but it was no real surprise when Everton found themselves taking the ball out of the back of their net for the second time in the thirty-second minute.  Philippe Coutinho threaded a wonderful through ball for Sturridge to run onto down the left channel, and Sturridge took it toward the onrushing Howard before placing it past Howard into the back of the net to make it two for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Only three minutes later the 24-year-old added a second to his tally as he lobbed a charging Tim Howard on the turn from twenty yards out after connecting with a Kolo Toure long-ball, a goal which even Sturridge himself evidently was surprised to finish as it bounced into the back of the open net.  Even as the first half ended and the second half began it managed to get worse for Everton, who conceded a third in the forty-ninth minute despite looking somewhat dominant in the early stages of the half.  Suarez easily cut across to intercept Jagielka’s dangerous pass right across his own defense around the halfway line, and after motoring down towards goal the Uruguayan international tucked it into the bottom corner to make it four to the despair of the Everton fans.

Somehow, it just kept getting worse for Everton, with Martin Atkinson awarding the home side a penalty in the fifty-first as Howard inevitably took down Sterling, who was heading in on goal, inside the Everton penalty area.  However, Everton managed to get some relief when Sturridge, looking for his hat-trick blasted it over the bar with an uncontrolled swing at the ball.  Yet, and this might be Sturridge’s only granted wish that failed to come true on the night, the forward did never find the back of the net again as the match ended 4-0 with Everton keeping control in the final minutes, but Liverpool still won 4-0 to give them bragging rights until the two sides meet again.
Man of the Match: Daniel Sturridge

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.