Liverpool had to thwart wild Everton football, says Klopp
Sadio Mane’s 94th minute tap-in ensured Jurgen Klopp enjoyed his first visit to Everton with a 1-0 win that saw his Liverpool team move into second in the Premier League on Monday. A game with an abundance of passion and pride failed to deliver many goalmouth incidents and seemed more likely to be remembered for the failure of referee Mike Dean to send off Everton’s Ross Barkley in the second half.
The midfielder was shown only yellow for a violent stamp that struck Jordan Henderson above his ankle.
But deep in injury time, Daniel Sturridge cut inside and saw his well-aimed shot strike the foot of the right-hand post, rebounding into the six-yard area where Mane reacted first and converted the game’s only goal.
That dramatic goal allowed Liverpool to move to within six points of league leaders Chelsea, with Manchester City a further point back in third. Everton, with just one win in seven, are ninth.
However, Koeman conceded Barkley fortunate to stay on the pitch.
“Barkley, maybe he was lucky. Maybe it’s a red,” said Koeman, who in his heyday as a player was renowned for his physicality.
Without a derby win in the last six years, and with just one victory from the last 19 fixtures with Liverpool, Everton had started the game in impressive and aggressive fashion but lost their way after the interval. After 22 minutes, Barkley — the only native Merseysider on either side — pushed the ball wide to Aaron Lennon whose cross forced Ragnar Klavan into an important interception with Romelu Lukaku poised to connect at the far post.
Then moments later, another Everton attack ended with Leighton Baines setting Barkley away for a 25-yard shot which passed within feet of the post. was
EVERTON UNSETTLED Everton were unsettled at the interval by the loss of the injured midfielder James McCarthy, who according to Koeman has a hamstring injury and made way for veteran Gareth Barry, and Liverpool finally began to make an impression on proceedings. On 50 minutes, the visitors carved out the best chance of the game with James Milner’s long pass seeing Roberto Firmino shrug off Ramiro Funes Mori and advance clean through only for Maarten Stekelenburg to deny him with a brave block. LIVERPOOL: Liverpool had to combat “wild football” from Everton before a last-gasp winner from Sadio Mane earned the visitors a 1-0 derby win at Goodison Park on Monday, said manager Juergen Klopp.
Klopp’s men completely controlled the second half but had to wait until four minutes into stoppage time to break through, Mane sliding in to convert the rebound from close range after substitute Daniel Sturridge’s 20-metre shot had struck the post.
“The best thing you can do on a night like this is win and you saw how happy our fans were,” Klopp told Sky Sports television after Liverpool rose to second in the Premier League, six points behind leaders Chelsea.
“I can’t remember one chance for Everton. The plan of Everton was wild football. They were chasing us everywhere, it is really difficult to play against this.
“We couldn’t handle it at first. We will be better at reacting against this in a few months,” added Klopp.
“We were much better in the second half, we could have scored earlier. If you only win games when you are brilliant you won’t win many games, it was a battle and we were ready for it.”
Referee Mike Dean added eight minutes of stoppage time after Everton goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg sustained a leg injury in the second half and was replaced by Joel Robles.
“We are really disappointed to concede in extra time,” said Everton manager Ronald Koeman. “The eight minutes killed us.
“We have to wait to see about Stekelenburg’s injury, we will know more tomorrow, and (midfielder) James McCarthy has a hamstring injury.
“In the second half we had problems to stop Liverpool,” added Koeman.