A THRILLER, BUT A VAR CRY FROM THE BEAUTIFULGAME

A controversial derby that could cause lasting problems for Klopp

IT WAS a derby for the ages, and one that will forever be tainted by controversy following a complete meltdown of the VAR system that could signal change.

Yet for Liverpool, such longterm considerations can wait.

They have far more pressing and important issues to deal with right now, and would be forced to do so even if VAR official David Coote had actually done the job he was paid for.

The Merseyside derby is always explosive, tinged with aggression and anger. And with that comes danger, as many players will testify.

Yet by those standards, Jordan Pickford overstepped the mark, and Virgil van Dijk paid a vicious price. So may Liverpool.

It is not rocket science to suggest Van Dijk’s arrival at Anfield marked the start of a new winning era under Jurgen Klopp. He is the bedrock on which the success of the past t 18 months th was built. b ilt Before limping off 12 minutes into this ferocious contest, the Dutch defender had played every minute of Liverpool’s previous 74 Premier League games. They lost only five of them.

In 95 league appearances since he joined, he has lost eight. It is remarkable, almost unprecedented. But now he is absent and will be for some time. So Liverpool will have to cope without him. The question they must answer, is how?

They have only two fit, senior centre-halves in Joel Matip and Joe Gomez. Both have had injury issues, and Matip has played just 795 minutes of Premier League football for Liverpool in the past 14 months.

Perhaps the more specific question, even if both stay fit, is whether the pair is good enough to maintain th e Red s’ title challenge, at least until January when the transfer market can deliver some cavalr y? Klopp accepted d it i was a problem bl on Saturday - Everton equalised soon after Van Dijk went off.

Yet he struck a defiant note after a game where Jordan Henderson thought he had scored a late winner, only for it to be controversially ruled out by VAR showing

Sadio Mane offside.

“Joe Gomez played an exceptional game when he came on,” said Klopp (right).

“The set-piece was unlucky, because it was the first corner after Virgil was not on the pitch.

“Everton used that but we sorted it in the game. We avoided pretty much all situations in this game, and we found a response.

“Everton are f lying in a sensational moment, winning, and to dominate like we did here, at their home, is not easy.

“But my boys did it in very difficult circumstances l osing a player l early. lw We f found d a response, and scored a late goal, it was just it didn’t count for some reason. “It’s not good with Virgil, but we will show the response we’ve shown in all situations.”

Salah’s goal, to regain the lead a f t e r Mi c h a e l Ke a n e’s header cancelled out Mane’s early opener, was his 100th for Liverpool. Only 16 players in the club’s history have done that.

In three seasons that is remarkable.

Everton , i n Dominic Calvert-lewin, also have a player who deserves the praise to have come his way. His header to gain a point for Everton showed his class, and there will be few strikers who expose Gomez and Matip so easily this season. It was a shaft of light from both clubs, after VAR destroyed this contest to cast gloom across all of football.