LIVERPOOL 3 EVERTON 1 JUST LIKE WATCHING BRAZIL
Coutinho lights up Anfield but proud’ Everton guv’nor Koeman only has eyes for his misfiring stars
I’m proud.” At least Koeman had the good grace to admit t hat Ross Barkley was fortunate not to see red. The Wavertree- born midfielder was breathing fire against the club he loves to hate. He smashed into both Dejan Lovren and Emre Can before Mane had put Liverpool ahead in the eighth minute with a low drive that gave Joel Robles no chance as it f l ew t hrough Pennington’s legs and into the corner. And when he raked his studs into Lovren’s ankle six minutes before half-time, referee Anthony Taylor’s decision to show just a yellow card had Klopp holding his head in disbelief. “It’s always different for the local boys in a Merseyside derby,” said Koeman. “Ross probably deserved two yellows but according to one coach on the Liverpool bench, the referee should have shown us eight red cards. It was a big show from him – and I don’t like that.” It was Klopp’s assistant Zeljko Buvac who caught Koeman’s ear – but his boss was in no mood to get involved in any post-match controversy. Klopp would have been unhappy to see Pennington ( left) capitalise on the confusion caused by Leighton Baines’ corner to ram home an Everton equaliser in the 28th minute. But then Coutinho’s snaking hips put Pennington back into his trance two minutes later and the Brazilian cut inside to curl a glorious shot high past Robles from 16 yards. Liverpool lost Mane with a second-half knee injury sustained when he collapsed under Baines’ tackle. But Origi came on to settle the game after being sent clear by Coutinho just before the hour. The Belgian fooled Robles by focusing his eyes on one corner of the goal before whippingw his shot towardsowards the oppositeoppo side.
“It waswa deserved,” said Klopp. “I said tot the boys before e the game tha that it had to be a mixturexture of being smart and emotional,nal, not just emotional.
“So w we did really well and scored s some good goals.
“It waswa almost perfect – but then we lost Sadio Mane.e. It doesn’tdoesn look like he will ill be ready for Bournemouthth on Wednesday.”Wedn
Asked about Koeman’sn’s claims of bad sportsmanship,ip, the LiverpoolLive boss added: d: “Ronald didn’t say anythinging to me w when we shook handsands after the game.
“My s t aff were f i ne. SometimesSometim we all have tinted glasses, butb sometimes it is s pretty clear.
“All w we want is for our players to leave the pitch withoutt injuries.”injuries.