Roo to the rescue
Striker scores from the spot as Merseyside derby ends in a draw
Wayne Rooney converted a 77th-minute penalty as Everton snatched a point in a 1-1 draw at Liverpool in the Merseyside derby in the English Premier League. Liverpool took the lead through Mohamed Salah’s league-high 13th goal of the campaign and dominated the game until Dominic Calvert-Lewin fell to the ground after being pushed in the back by Dejan Lovren. Rooney stepped up to send the penalty down the middle for his first goal in a Merseyside derby, in his second spell at Everton. In another match, Olivier Giroud’s last-gasp header salvaged a point for Arsenal in a 1-1 draw at Southampton as Arsene Wenger’s side avoided a second straight Premier League defeat.
LONDON: Everton captain Wayne Rooney scored for the first time in a Merseyside derby with a late penalty to take an unlikely point in a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield.
With the snow swirling, Rooney sent the 77th-minute spot-kick straight down the middle after Dominic Calvert-Lewin went down following a push in the back by Croatian defender Dejan Lovren.
Mohamed Salah had earlier fired Liverpool ahead with a 42nd-minute stunner that sent the Egyptian clear of Tottenham Hotspur’s England striker Harry Kane as the league’s top marksman with 13 goals this season.
Liverpool stayed fourth with 30 points. Chelsea are third on 32 with Sam Allardyce’s Everton moving up to 10th.
In an earlier match, Olivier Giroud’s last-gasp header salvaged a point for Arsenal in a 1-1 draw at Southampton as Arsene Wenger’s side avoided a second successive Premier League defeat.
Wenger’s team appeared destined to follow last weekend’s home loss to Manchester United with another setback when they trailed to Charlie Austin’s third minute goal.
But France striker Giroud conjured a response with two minutes left when he directed Alexis Sanchez’s cross past Fraser Forster shortly after appearing as a substitute.
A single point, though, denied Arsenal the chance to climb into the top four.
Southampton can consider themselves unfortunate to have seen Austin’s fourth goal in three starts cancelled out late on, but Mauricio Pellegrino’s side have won just one of their last seven games.
After seeing his side ship two early goals in the United defeat, Wenger had demanded concentration from the start
Unfortunately for Wenger, it appears his words went unheeded.
Per Mertesacker had been restored to the line-up in place of the injured Shkodran Mustafi.
But the Germany international was left red-faced just two minutes into his return as he gifted Southampton the goal that allowed Pellegrino’s side to control the first half.
A poor clearance from Mertesacker conceded possession deep inside his own half and then slipped as he attempted to make up for his mistake, allowing Dusan Tadic the time and space to pick out Austin’s run into the box where the striker finished from 11m out.
It was the perfect start for the home side and they should have been two up inside five minutes when Tadic and Austin again combined to open up the unconvincing Gunners backline.
This time Tadic delivered a through ball from near the halfway line, sending Austin into space with a clear run on goal, but the forward placed his shot too close to keeper Petr Cech who was given the chance to save.
Arsenal pressed forward with more purpose after the restart, dominating possession yet unable to penetrate a home defence that demonstrate far more resilience than their own.
But their attempts to force an equaliser left them exposed at the back.
Oriel Romeu almost found a way past Cech when his drive struck the bar before a routine ball over the Arsenal defence led to Tadic setting up another good opportunity, this time for Ryan Bertrand.
Arsenal looked to have run out of ideas until Giroud found space between the Saints defenders and headed home from Sanchez’s cross.