Wednesday 1 October 2014

Jagielka Stuns Reds

Ahead of a tough trip to Basel in the Champions League, Liverpool hosted neighbours Everton in the 223rd Merseyside derby in a lunchtime kick-off on Saturday.

The hosts looked to make a rapid start with Raheem Sterling rushing forward from the kick-off before a heavy challenge from Gareth Barry on Adam Lallan resulted in a booking for the Everton man with Mario Balotelli firing the resulting free-kick into the wall.

Barry was seemed to be influential in denying Liverpool's next attack as a volley from Sterling looked to block the shot with his arm but the appeals for a penalty were waved away by referee Martin Atkinson.

Everton responded and forced a goalline clearance from Dejan Lovren in the 26th minute after a mazy run from Leighton Baines saw him beat Lazar Markovic before hitting a dangerous cross which forced the Croatian to clear for the hosts.

Liverpool started the second half brightly but were unable to break the deadlock and as the hour mark approached, Rodgers made a change in attack with the introduction of Phillipe Coutinho in place of Lazar Markovic. Everton looked to open the scoring with an effort from Steven Naismith who tested Simon Mignolet but found the Belgian up to the task.

However it was Liverpool who went ahead in the 65th minute as for the 10th time in his Reds career, Steven Gerrard found the net against Everton. The Liverpool captain swept a superb free-kick which despite finding the hand of Tim Howard beat the American to sent the Kop into a raucous roar.

The win could have been sealed for Liverpool as Mario Balotelli connected to a dangerous cross from Raheem Sterling before rattling the cross bar with a powerful shot which looked to have grazed the hands of Tim Howard.

The Italian swept a volley wide of the target as the clock reached 80 minutes and the win looked to be just minutes away from completion for the Reds when they were stunned by a superb leveller for the visitors. A clearance from an Aiden McGeady shot landed perfectly on the edge of the area for Phil Jagielka who thundered an effort which sailed past Simon Mignolet to salvage a draw for the Toffees.

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