Pickford hailed after he thwarts frustrated Reds
EVERTON 0 LIVERPOOL 0
Frank Lampard believes Jordan Pickford’s outstanding display in the goalless Merseyside derby showed why he is England’s No. 1.
The Everton goalkeeper is the subject of constant scrutiny, even if England boss Gareth Southgate’s faith in him has not wavered, but he proved his credentials at Goodison Park.
Pickford made a string of saves to keep Liverpool at bay, none better than the last in stoppage time when he tipped Mohamed Salah’s shot on to the post.
Alisson was also in excellent form at the other end, making key saves to deny Everton debutant Neal Maupay and Dwight McNeil, but Pickford was the star of the show as he frustrated a Liverpool side who have now dropped nine points from their opening six matches.
Pickford pushed a Darwin Nunez shot on to the crossbar in the first half and was grateful to see Luis Diaz hit a post with a follow-up effort. He also denied Roberto Firmino three times.
“Superb,” Lampard said of Pickford’s display. “The save from Nunez in the first half when I think we were comfortable as you can be against Liverpool – it’s just a moment of quality and he gets a fingertip to it.
“Then in the second half there were a lot of saves that were world-class. He did it at the back end of last season as well.
“He gets scrutiny because he’s England’s No. 1, I understand that, but when he delivers like he did today everyone understands why he’s England’s No. 1 and why we appreciate him so much here.”
Everton had a 69th-minute goal from Conor Coady ruled out by VAR for offside – a decision that sparked ugly scenes as a bottle was thrown towards Jurgen Klopp and a pitch invader confronted referee Anthony Taylor – but Liverpool were the ones pushing for a winner late on.
Toffees boss Lampard claimed that would have been different if Virgil Van Dijk had been shown a red card instead of yellow when he caught Amadou Onana with his studs in the 76th minute.
“I’m surprised it hasn’t gone to VAR and they’ve not made what I think would be the correct decision,” Lampard said. “It doesn’t matter now but for me it was a red card.”
But for Liverpool, it was more points dropped in a stuttering start to the season impacted by a lengthy injury list.
“There are not a lot of derbies that will be in the book of games I will look back on in the future,” Reds boss Klopp said. “Maybe one or two, but all the others, no. It’s never really outstanding football.
“It’s a big fight. That’s what everyone expects from both teams. We fought, we didn’t play always extremely well, but we created enough top chances. We didn’t use them. If we cannot win the derby, just don’t lose it.”
Everton said they had identified the individual who had thrown the bottle that narrowly missed Klopp, and that they – as well as the pitch invader – would face an indefinite ban from Goodison Park.
Maupay got the first real chance, but dragged his shot wide after being played in by Demarai Gray.
Anthony Gordon, kept out of the clutches of Chelsea in the final days of the transfer window, tested Alisson with a drilled shot when Liverpool could only half-clear Gray’s corner, but the shot was too close to the goalkeeper.
Everton should have gone in front in the 32nd minute. Nathan Patterson’s cross missed the intended target, but it came back to Maupay. His shot was blocked, but the ball sat up for Davies, who saw his shot spin off the outside of the far post.
Nunez wasted a second chance with a header before he brought a superb save from Pickford with a looping shot which he pushed on to the bar. Diaz won the race to the ball and cut back in from the left, but bent his shot against a post.
Pickford got down smartly to turn Firmino’s goal-bound drive away then made a reaction save to keep out the Brazilian’s header from the resulting corner. Seconds later, the keeper did well to block Fabinho’s shot at the expense of another corner.
Then it was Alisson’s turn as Everton countered. Gray pulled the ball back looking for Gordon, but instead found Maupay, who could hardly believe he failed to score as Liverpool’s goalkeeper made the block.
After Coady’s disallowed “goal”, McNeil replaced Gordon and almost made an immediate impact when his deflected shot brought another fine save from Alisson.
Pickford was not to be outdone, denying Firmino, before getting quickly down to his left to deny Salah with the best save of the match at the death.