Everton effectively ended their relegation fears and all but killed Liverpool’s Premier League title hopes with a 2-0 victory over their rivals at Goodison Park.
Goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin handed the Toffees a deserved victory that moves them eight points clear of the relegation zone with four games remaining.
The Reds, meanwhile, now need a miracle to nullify the advantages of both Manchester City and Arsenal in the Premier League title race.
How the game unfolded
Having lost Diogo Jota to injury last weekend, the Reds’ attacking options were further depleted as Cody Gakpo withdrew from the squad ahead of his wife giving birth.
Everton, meanwhile, welcomed Ben Godfrey and James Garner into the side that had earned a crucial 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest last time out.
Buoyed by that confidence-boosting victory and with a passionate crowd behind them, it was the hosts who started the brightest.
Abdoulaye Doucoure failed to give them an early lead when he passed a simple chance wide, before a penalty award against Alisson Becker for a trip on Calvert-Lewin was overturned due to an offside in the build-up.
But Everton kept coming, with Calvert-Lewin and Godrey failing to take presentable headed opportunities before Branthwaite broke the deadlock.
The defender capitalised on chaos in the Liverpool box, particularly a poor Ibrahima Konate clearance, to squeeze the ball home and send the home crowd wild.
Liverpool recovered to create chances of their own before the break, but Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz both hammered the ball straight at Jordan Pickford before Mohamed Salah blasted over.
The Reds looked ready to begin turning the screw after half-time when Virgil van Dijk met an early corner and nodded it straight toward Pickford.
But Everton roared straight back, Dwight McNeil forcing Alisson to tip over the bar before Calvert-Lewin was given the freedom of the box to head a corner in at the back stick.
At that point, Liverpool’s hopes looked lost, and optimism over an unlikely comeback only shrunk further when Diaz hit the inside of the post from the left-hand side.
From there, the visitors largely went out with a whimper, as Everton easily saw the game out to claim a victory that all but secures their top-flight future for another season.
GK: Jordan Pickford – 7/10 – His key contribution was making two big saves from Nunez and Diaz in the first half to keep…
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