Lamps has lit a fire in Blues... this was very VAR from the performance of a struggling team
FORGET the result, forget even the most shocking VAR decision so far – if it is possible to do so – this contest was all about the performance of Everton.
When managers talk about going toe-to-toe with Manchester City, you generally take that as the usual prematch bluster aimed solely at the fans in an attempt to unleash their passion.
Yet here, in the first hour especially, Everton were true to boss Frank Lampard’s words, and bit into the tackle as ferociously as the wind which was biting with its usual incision off the Mersey.
The Blues made it red-blooded and no place for the faint hearted, the aggression and desire they showed visibly checking City back, making them look puzzlingly at times at just what was unfolding.
It was a clarion call to the Goodison faithful, and the old place was more vibrant than at any point this season…an atmosphere of past years, past heroics, not the lame passivity of the Rafa Benitez experiment.
It was as if Everton briefly found City’s kryptonite, their slick passing shaken by the snarling in the tackle, by the pressure put on the ball holder from every angle.
The number of times Lampard’s hungry team hunted down the ball deep into City territory was surprising, and welcome no doubt for Liverpool, because it showed the champions can be human after all.
It takes some guts to attempt such a courageous plan against the best passing team in the world, but Lampard clearly has that as a manager. Not for him the meek surrender of the deep block of Benitez.
Lampard has instilled a fire into Everton, and they deserved far more than that truly horrendous decision not to award a penalty when Rodri extended his arm so far to stop the ball, he looked like he was playing basketball.
It was shocking, shameful. Why
VAR didn’t ask referee Paul Tierney to review it is a mystery so bizarre.
Everton’s display of passion showed they are far better than their league position suggests.
It showed City can be pressed, can be hurried and hassled out of their possession and out of their stride. They were rattled, no doubt. You could see it in the gestures to each other.
Of course they tired, and clinging on to a point late on against City is no place to be with players who are running on fumes, especially when they have the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Gabriel Jesus on the bench.
Pep Guardiola – for him – seemed calm on the touchline as the time ticked slowly, agonisingly for both halves of Merseyside, down… suggesting the plan was to tire Everton out and go for jugular late on.
Yet there was something not quite, well, on about City. Maybe they have been more affected by the pressure of Liverpool’s pursuit than their incessantly calm demeanour suggests.
These players are human after all, even if we sometimes wonder. We saw a glimpse of that at Goodison, the atmosphere getting to them as it has done at Anfield at times in the past.
Even after that unfortunate Phil Foden goal with just eight minutes remaining, we saw City are vulnerable at this moment, we saw them capitulate late on themselves, and only some incompetence from the officials saved them.
It also suggests Liverpool can effect a real contest and take this season down to the wire. Guardiola’s actions in the final few minutes as his side defended their lead told you that, his demented animation hinting at a manager who knows they are in a fight that will be bruising.
They were lucky here, but the truth remains, Everton exposed the fact that City are rocking right now, and the next few weeks in the title race will prove fascinating.