Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ROO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE KIDDING, KLOPP?
Kop boss paid for his poor selections when Rooney scored his first ever goal in a Mersey derby
IT IS hard to remember a more one-sided derby.
But, incredibly, it was Wayne Rooney who emerged as the most unlikely hero with his first-ever goal in an all-merseyside skirmish.
Rooney described not scoring against Liverpool as one of his biggest regrets when he left Everton the first time around in 2004.
But it was Kop boss Jurgen Klopp who was left with the regrets this time because Liverpool must see this as two valuable points dropped.
Klopp showed exactly what he thought of Everton by starting with Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho on the bench and relying on 20-year-old rookie Dominic Solanke to lead the attack.
The final insult was when Klopp clearly thought Liverpool were so in control, so in command, that he took off their best player Mohamed Salah with 23 minutes left.
It came back to bite him on the backside.
Never mind arch-rivals Everton, Liverpool wanted to make sure they were fresh to face West Brom at Anfield on Wednesday.
But that was Klopp’s biggest mistake.
He underestimated former England skipper Rooney and his desire to have the last laugh on the Kop, and Big Sam Allardyce’s desperation to play party-pooper.
Rooney smashed home a 76th-minute penalty to equalise and in that single moment justified his return to his beloved Goodison Park last summer.
Former Manchester United star Rooney raced to the jubilant Everton fans behind the goal and celebrated like he was in there with them. He could not contain his delight.
Nor could Allardyce at the final whistle. Big Sam punched the air and, if Everton fans had any doubts about him before, they won’t have them now.
Anfield was in a state of near-disbelief, the Liverpool fans aghast at failing to win a game they dominated from start to finish.
Liverpool had 79 per cent possession, Everton barely got a kick in the first half, showed very little spirit and, until the penalty, Allardyce must have been worrying about the scale of the job in front of him.
There have been bigger scorelines in recent times in this fixture – Everton were probably more competitive last season when they got stuffed 3-1 – but rarely has it been such one-way traffic.
And that was with two members of the Fab Four watching from the sidelines. Liverpool were far too good in the first half, especially as Allardyce’s formation left too many players out of position in a lopsided formation.
Liverpool were slicing Everton open at will but somehow – through luck and desperation – the visitors held firm until the 42nd minute.
Typically, it was Salah who provided the inspiration. The magical Egyptian winger overpowered Cuco Martina, dummied Idrissa Gueye, and then curled a brilliant left-footed shot into the top corner.
It was a moment of pure genius. Maybe Liverpool could afford to rest two of the Fab Four when Salah can do this.
But Sadio Mane – the other member of Liverpool’s forward quartet – was offkey and hit a bum note as he dragged a shot wide after going clean through in firsthalf injury time.
Everton did not manage a shot on target themselves until first-half injury time but Dominic Calvert-lewin fired straight at Reds keeper Simon Mignolet.
Allardyce made changes at half time but it did not really stem the tide.
Yet for all of Liverpool’s possession and threat, they had only three shots on target as they were far too wasteful with their final pass and finishing. Salah, Mane and Jordan Henderson all missed openings.
Everton were barely in the game but it was Rooney’s long, hopeful punt into the Liverpool box which ended up giving them a lifeline.
Calvert-lewin tried to control the ball,
Dejan Lovren gave him a nudge, and referee Craig
Pawson had no hesitation.
Klopp
(right) was fuming afterwards and insisted it was not a penalty.
But it was stupid on
Lovren’s part to even make the challenge.
Rooney smashed it down the middle into the roof of the net.
Of all the highs of his career, you can bet he will rate this one with the best of them.