WAYNE ROONEY blasted home his first Merseyside derby goal as Everton made Liverpool pay for another moment of defensive madness.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were in total control and on course for victory when Dejan Lovren suffered brain freeze in the snow at Anfield.
The Liverpool defender needlessly shoved Dominic Calvert-Lewin to the ground and ref Craig Pawson had no choice but to point to the spot.
And Rooney made no mistake as he lashed his 77th minute spot-kick past Simon Mignolet to ensure Everton took a point from the game.
It was a result they had never looked like getting after setting up in one of the most defensive modes seen from a team in blue in a Mersey derby.
Sam Allardyce sent his side out with little ambition to do anything but not concede – and the game turned into example of attack versus defence. Liverpool were allowed to attack at will, and for long period they struggled to make their dominance show as Everton stuck gamely to the task.
But three minutes before the break Mo Salah broke the deadlock with a brilliant individual goal to show again whey he could be the buy of the season. Salah jinked past the challenge of two Everton defenders before curling a delightful effort round Ashley Williams and past the despairing Jordan Pickford into the top corner.
It was no more than Klopp’s side deserved, and Allardyce was left being forced to bring on Morgan Schneiderlin and Aaron Lennon at the break in an attempt to finally introduce some attacking intent. But the pattern of play hardly changed in the second half, and Liverpool had the chances to run out easy winners.
Salah headed wide of target with the goal at his mercy before Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain flashed another effort off target. And then another chance went begging when Oxlade-Chamberlain whipped in a brilliant low cross but Sadio Mane was unable to get a touch on the ball six yards out.
Everton were hanging on and showing little sign of being able to find a way back into the contest, but the home crowd began to get nervous at the failure to kill the game off. And their worst fears came to bear when Rooney clipped a cross-field pass into the path of Calvert-Lewin, who was running away from goal and not in a position to even shoot.
But Lovren inexplicably put his hand in the young striker’s back, sending him crashing to the floor and despite the protests Pawson made the correct decision to award the penalty.
And Rooney was in no mood to let Liverpool off the hook, ignoring the pressure to send his fierce shot into the net for the equaliser.
From The Sun
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