Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored in a pulsating 2-0 home victory over Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday that could prove to be the death of the visitors’ withering Premier League title hopes.
Everton’s first derby victory at Goodison Park in more than 13 years prevented Liverpool from climbing level with Arsenal at the top of the league table. Juergen Klopp’s men are three points behind the Gunners (77) with four games to play.
Holders Manchester City remain in the driver’s seat on 73 points but with two games in hand, while Everton’s victory has them breathing easier, eight points above the relegation zone in 16th.
“Very disappointed in so many ways and I think everyone has to look in the mirror look at their own performances, did they give everything and do they really want to win the league?” Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk said.
“Obviously there are still games after tonight, but if we play like we did tonight, we have no chance to win the title. It’s a tough one and obviously we have to do much better against a side that is playing against relegation.”
Everton were sharper from the start and won a penalty when Calvert-Lewin was tripped by Liverpool keeper Alisson only for it to be overturned by the VAR for an offside.
Yet it wasn’t long before Branthwaite had the old stadium shaking in the 27th minute when he capitalised on poor defending from Liverpool, slotting home from close range after the Reds missed several attempts to clear the ball.
Alisson could not quite get his hands on the ball which rolled off the post and in.
Branthwaite is the first Everton player to score against Liverpool since Demarai Gray in a 4-1 league home loss in late- 2021.
“We spoke about the desire and the energy of the team and the physical side of the game,” Everton manager Sean Dyche said. “The lads did it on Sunday (2-0 win over Nottingham Forest) and they’ll have to do it again. That’s the challenge.
“Sunday was massive and now it was a massively important derby game.”
Calvert-Lewin leapt to head home from a corner kick to double the Toffees’ lead in the 58th minute, and while Liverpool have mounted some masterful comebacks this season, Everton held strong to hand Klopp, who is leaving his role at the season’s end, his first defeat at Goodison in his final derby.
“It’s extra special, isn’t it? Local derby — I’ve been here long enough to know what it means to the fans, what it means to me,” Calvert-Lewin told Sky Sports. “Where we are in the league, we needed a massive three points and everything kind of came together tonight.”
Liverpool kept Everton keeper Jordan Pickford busy in the dying minutes as he leapt to bat Harvey Elliott’s shot over the crossbar and then dived to save a shot from Reds talisman Mohamed Salah while Everton manager Sean Dyche looked at his watch in frustration, desperately wanting the final whistle to blow.
It was joyful bedlam when it finally did, with Everton’s faithful serenading the team off the pitch.
“Great atmosphere, thoroughly deserved it, was a massive win. Hard work pays off,” Pickford told Sky.
While Liverpool, who had 77% possession and seven shots on target to Everton’s six, won the League Cup earlier this season, the Premier League is the final trophy up for grabs for the Reds after they were eliminated from the FA Cup and Europa League.
Fernandes digs Man Utd out of hole in win over Sheff Utd
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes came to his side’s rescue with two goals in a 4-2 home victory over the Premier League’s bottom club Sheffield United on Wednesday just when more trouble loomed for beleaguered manager Erik ten Hag.
Twice United trailed against a side destined for a quick return to the Championship with Jayden Bogle and Ben Brereton Diaz both on target for the visitors but Fernandes helped avert another damaging result.
He levelled from the penalty spot in the 61st minute after a foul on Harry Maguire, scorer of United’s first equaliser.
Fernandes then smacked home a sizzling left-footed shot to edge his side in front before setting up Rasmus Hojlund to finally subdue their battling opponents.
“At the end we came back. We put ourselves in a position where it’s tough to win games. But also it shows a bit of character,” the Portuguese said.
“We’re scoring lots of goals. It’s just about that compactness we need to have as a team.”
It was another far-from-convincing display from Ten Hag’s side who have conceded 50 league goals although victory moved them above Newcastle United into sixth place to keep them in the hunt for a European qualifying spot.
“Many positives today,” Ten Hag said. “The resilience to fight back after losing two times. But also there were negatives. We gave it away, it can’t happen, unacceptable, we have to learn from this.”
While Sheffield United played with plenty of heart and no little skill, time is nearly up for Chris Wilder’s side who have only 16 points from 34 games and will be relegated at the weekend if they lose to Newcastle.
United’s FA Cup-semi-final win on penalties was dubbed embarrassing in some quarters after squandering a 3-0 lead against second-tier Coventry City and being spared defeat only by a controversially disallowed goal in extra time.
Ten Hag came out fighting this week, branding the criticism disgraceful but the Dutchman appeared to be staring into the abyss as his side again conjured trouble of their own making.
They could and should have been well ahead as chances went begging and Sheffield keeper Wes Foderingham pulled off several great saves, one from Diogo Dalot in the opening minute and another from teenager Kobbie Mainoo.
But United’s habit of shooting themselves in the foot returned in the 35th minute as keeper Andre Onana aimed a pass towards Dalot but it was under hit and the alert Bogle ran through to squeeze in a shot.
United were level before halftime as Alejandro Garnacho, one of the shining lights in a poor season, whipped in a low cross that Maguire delicately glanced in with his head.
The second half was only five minutes old when United’s defence was breached all too easily again with Ben Osborn cutting back a pass for Brereton Diaz to stab high into the net.
United looked stunned and quite what new technical director Jason Wilcox and head of football operations Dave Brailsford made of it from the directors box one can only imagine.
But United were handed a lifeline when Maguire went down in the box and Fernandes stepped up to send his kick into the corner. Fernandes then showed his class with a superb finish and United could finally breathe easy as Hojlund, who scored the winning penalty on Sunday, steered in Fernandes’s pass.
“He is really leading the team. I’m very happy with his performance,” a grateful Ten Hag said of his skipper.
