PREMIER LEAGUE
PHILIPPE COUTINHO served up another dish of Brazilian magic but Ronald Koeman obviously wasn’t watching.
The Everton manager’s hearing is fine – but he might just want to get his eyesight checked.
The Dutchman l eft Anfield complaining that one of Jurgen Klopp’s coaches had spent the afternoon trying to get his players sent off.
He also tried to claim that his players deserved to travel back across Stanley Park with something more than another dose of derby misery. That smacked of a man wearing the Emperor’s New Clothes.
Yes, Everton were stripped of key players that made it impossible for Koeman’s men to walk the walk after their manager had talked the talk in the build-up to the game.
But the bottom line was that Liverpool strengthened their grip on a top-four place, despite only showing flashes of the high- octane attacking threat that has made them such a force in the big games this season. Goals from Sadio Mane, Coutinho and substitute
Divock Origi ensured that Everton are still waiting for their first win at Anfield this century.
And while the Toffees responded when youngster Matthew Pennington briefly awoke from his nightmare to wipe out Mane’s early opener, parity lasted no more than two minutes.
“I must mention as the manager of Everton that I am really proud of my team,” said Koeman. “I was pleased with the way we played. We had a gameplan and we pressed them.
“We came back from conceding a lucky goal and then we controlled the game.
“We came back, but then we conceded again too easily.
“From that moment, Liverpool defended and defended. Then we made a mistake and t hey j ust punished us again. But after that we had two or threet hree open chances. “If you see the stats it was close – although the final result wasn’t. “We had four boys of 22 or less, but we played in a way I like to see Everton play. That’s why