Jürgen Klopp wanted to share his joy over an unprecedented coup by the Liverpool Football Club with the fans alone. With a similarly smooth body deception as his goal scorer Mohamed Salah has mastered, the German coach shook off the cameraman who was running close in front of him on the way to the stadium exit. On television, for example, it was only possible to see from the rear, how Klopp tossed his famous fist of jubilation through the air. But the fans had the best view. Klopp’s emotional outburst, which surpassed the usual winning folklore, is likely to have contained all the anger that had built up since the last duel with neighboring Everton FC.
More than a year ago, in October 2020, that can hardly be stated in retrospect, Everton destroyed or kicked their local rivals’ title defense in the Premier League at their home in Goodison Park. In a serious argument, Everton’s goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and attacker Richarlison committed two vicious fouls, which resulted in Liverpool losing their defensive boss Virgil van Dijk with a cruciate ligament rupture for the rest of the season – and subsequently a streak of bad luck with injuries.
Already in Liverpool’s tight championship race with ManCity in the 2018/19 season, a goalless draw against Everton caused the decisive loss of points. Klopp, who is considered resentful, has probably not forgotten these two events when his team took a big revenge on Wednesday. After the runaway win at ManUnited (5-0), Liverpool achieved their second epoch-making success over arch rivals with a 4-1 win at Everton (highest away win in the Merseyside derby in 39 years). There has never been anything like this in a season. Only once, in 1925, Liverpool triumphed similarly clearly over United (5-0) and Everton (5-1) within a week. However, both games took place at Anfield Road at the time.
The performance should “not be taken for granted”, said Klopp, each of his players deserves “nine out of ten points”. How deep the past incidents had affected the team was indicated when Klopp admitted that they were all “only human”: “We are like a family and if someone is seriously injured, you can feel it in the dressing room.” Most of all, he praised the “big development step” of his team, no longer being guided by emotions, even though the club was “very emotional”.
The Everton fans have a skirmish with the club bosses
Despite the heated game with constant injury interruptions and seven yellow cards, Liverpool kept their nerve – especially after the connecting goal by Demarai Gray (39th), when the spectators tried with infernal noise to compensate for the inferiority of their team, which more swallows (3) than Shots on goal (2) produced.
The island’s media agreed that Liverpool and Everton are currently further apart than either side of the River Mersey. The goals were scored by Jordan Henderson (9th), Mohamed Salah (19/64), whose first goal meant the club’s 500th league goal in Klopp’s five and a half year tenure, and Diogo Jota (79th). With 43 league goals, Liverpool now has the best offensive in the European top leagues – and has already scored about as many goals this season as Everton in a year.
The city rivals of the “Reds”, on the other hand, have been waiting for a win for eight games. Masses of spectators left the stadium prematurely in protest. It was almost anarchic after the final whistle when some fans turned to the management team around football boss Marcel Brands, 59, and chairman Bill Kenwright, 76, in the main stand. They had to squeeze past them at the exit of the stairs.
One of them yelled in the face of football boss Marcel Brands that he should disappear (“Get out of this club!”) And asked: “Did you choose these players?” Instead of ignoring the skirmish, Brands stopped and sarcastically replied if it was “just the players”. Brands alluded to the displeasure of the supporters who are pushing for the dismissal of the completely unpopular coach Rafael Benítez. As a former Liverpool coach, the Spaniard, who was only hired at the beginning of the season, has become a symbol of the crash. His name was never mentioned in any of the home games – until the visiting fans frenetically celebrated him out of glee.
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