Van Dijk was lucky that he only got yellow after planting his studs on Onana’s lower leg. — © REUTERS
There were no goals in the Merseyside derby, but that was half a miracle. Home team Everton and Liverpool made it an exciting game with many chances on both sides. Everton saw the opening goal disallowed after the break for offside and in the final quarter Virgil van Dijk got away with a yellow card for a brutal charge on the lower leg of Red Devil Amadou Onana.
Michael Van Damme, Vincent Van Genechten
Red Devil Amadou Onana – who came over from Lille for 40 million euros at the beginning of August – was in the starting lineup at Everton for the third time in a row and played a great match. He was the first to be shown a yellow card when he was 38 minutes late for Carvalho. In the second half, Onana herself was the victim of a rough action by Van Dijk. The Dutch Liverpool defender planted his studs on Onana’s lower leg and got off well with a yellow card. The Belgian midfielder lay down for a while, but luckily was able to continue.
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The halftime score in the Merseyside derby was 0-0, but if we counted the balls against the woodwork, it was 2-1 for Liverpool. So it was by no means a boring derby.
Everton hit the post first when Davies kicked the ball past Alisson into the left post after 32 minutes.
On the stroke of half-time, Liverpool had their turn twice in the space of a few seconds. Nunez sprinted into the depths on the right, chested the ball and fired hard, but goalkeeper Pickford tapped him into the crossbar in spectacular fashion. Diaz then picked up the ball from the other side and kicked hard against the inside of the post.
After 69 minutes Conor Coady (nota bene ex-Liverpool) worked the ball at the far post against the nets, but the VAR ruled out the goal for (slightly) offside.
The cheering was short-lived for Coady. — © Action Images via Reuters
© REUTERS
After 95 minutes, Liverpool hit the target for a third time. Salah kicked to the short corner, but Pickford was there and the ball hit the post. So it was half a miracle that Everton-Liverpool finished 0-0. Neither team got much out of it. Liverpool are stuck at 9 out of 15 and missed the chance to (temporarily) enter the top four. Everton remains deep in the second half of the table with 4 on 18.
