Liverpool-Everton Verdict: Reds Back In Driver's Seat But Fail To Finish Course

Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho, Rickie Lambert and John Stones Now that was more like it … until the end.

Liverpool came within seconds of winning Saturday’s Premier League game against Everton, only for Phil Jagielka to score the game-tying goal with a wonder-strike in second-half stoppage time.

After the game, Brendan Rodgers praised his team’s character and claimed his team deserved a better result. The Liverpool manager is right in some respects but wrong in others. The margins between wins, losses and draws can be paper-thin at times, and the 223rd Merseyside derby was one of those cases.

Liverpool outplayed Everton from start to finish. The Reds deserve great credit for their physical intensity and tactical discipline. They seized the initiative after around 10 minutes and held onto it for the next 80 without allowing the emotion of a game against their local rivals to overcome their better judgement.

But the game went past the 90-minute mark.

Liverpool sat back for the final few minutes, and Everton equalized. Thus, some familiar deficiencies in Liverpool’s performance took on greater significance than they otherwise would had the Reds closed out the game.

Liverpool’s attack was good against Everton. It wasn’t great, which might be why Rodgers didn’t single out that aspect for praise in his postgame comments. Liverpool had 24 shots, 8 of which were on goal. Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard made a few fantastic saves but more of them were routine. Howard couldn’t do anything to keep Steven Gerrard’s superb free kick out of the goal. Nevertheless, Liverpool has been far more wasteful than ruthless in front of goal in 2014-15, and it cost the club two points Saturday.

Mario Balotelli took ten shots but failed to score. Balotelli might have had two more shots (and a goal) had he been better positioned to reach a pair of first-half headers. Balotelli now has scored one goal in six games for Liverpool, and the pressure to improve that ratio is starting to increase.

Daniel Sturridge’s imminent return from injury should help increase Liverpool’s chance-conversion percentage and ease Balotelli’s load. Chances are, Liverpool would have scored more than once against Everton.

Liverpool almost earned a shutout Saturday. It muted Everton’s potent attack and eliminated the mental errors that have plagued it for much of 2014. There was no stopping Jagielka’s perfect strike once he made contact with the ball, but the Everton defender only was in position to do so because Liverpool’s defensive resolve dropped in the last few minutes. It would have been the second time the Reds have blanked an opponent in seven games this season. Instead, they’re still at one, which is troubling.

Rodgers spent a lot of money on overhauling Liverpool’s defense last summer. The Reds have conceded nine goals in six games this season. The results are mixed so far, as 11 of 20 Premier League teams have better defensive records at this early stage of the campaign.

A lack of cutting edge in the final third, conspired with a defensive blink, a world-class volley and a few bad referee’s decisions to pick two points from the Liverpool’s pockets. Sure, the Reds performed well and deserved more. It was an improvement over recent defeats against Aston Villa and West Ham. But Liverpool only was in position to drop points Saturday because the quality of its performance didn’t match that of the goals, which created the result.