At 3 o'clock on April 25, Beijing time, the 29th round of the 23-24 Premier League season ushered in a key battle, Everton hosted Liverpool and successfully staged the second Merseyside derby of the season.
For Liverpool, who remain in the title race, every remaining round of fixtures is crucial. However, the Reds collectively lost the chain in this game, and finally lost 0-2, losing to Everton, the 16th city rival of the Premier League!
The Premier League title race is in its final stages, but Liverpool have only beaten Fulham in the previous three rounds and are away to 16th-placed Everton, and Jurgen Klopp's side need to regain their momentum for the title.
The game had just begun, and Everton, who were playing at home, were actively attacking, launching a series of attacks. In the 6th minute, Dominic Lewin burst into the box and was brought down by Alisson, and the referee immediately awarded a penalty and showed a yellow card. However, VAR intervened and confirmed that Calvert-Lewin was offside, so the penalty and yellow card were cancelled.
In the 27th minute, Everton got a free kick opportunity, Branswaite's header was crossed, the Liverpool defender was not far away, Konate even touched the ball at the opponent's feet, Branswaite's shot was saved by Alisson, and then the ball hit the post and bounced into the goal!
After taking a one-goal lead, Everton continued to play steadily, although they did not have much possession at their feet, but the defense was quite tight and stable.
Liverpool tried to turn the tide on the counter-attack, but Nunez was blocked from close range in the 35th minute, Luis Dias saved in the 44th minute, and Salah turned into an anti-aircraft gun in the 45th minute.
After half-time, Everton managed to take the lead over their city rivals and didn't allow their opponents to find particularly good chances. Liverpool had more possession but couldn't attack for a long time, and lacked some sharpness in attack, and did not play the attacking performance that a Premier League title contender should have.
In the second half of the game, in the 58th minute, Everton won a corner kick on the right side, McNeil drove the ball out, and Calvert-Lewin jumped up to score with a header!
Liverpool's defense and attack were a little sluggish in this game, and they were unable to recover from 2 goals behind, and finally the referee blew the final whistle.
At full-time, Everton beat Liverpool 2-0 at home to win the important Merseyside derby and remain in 16th place in the league with 33 points.
Liverpool lost an embarrassing game, with only 1 win in the last 4 rounds of the league, 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses, and ranked 2nd in the Premier League with 74 points.
The Premier League Reds are 3 points behind Arsenal, who have 77 points at the top of the table, and Manchester City is ranked 3rd with 73 points in 2 rounds of less games.
In fact, after the whole game, Liverpool had the advantage in all aspects, with 77% possession, 23 shots and 7 shots on target, but in the end it was 0 goals, and the opponent seized 2 set-piece opportunities to successfully score, and the offensive efficiency of the Premier League Reds was really poor.
Speaking after the game, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk pointed out that his team-mates were not doing well and not giving it their all on the way to the title: "Everyone has to look in the mirror and see how they are doing and think if they have given everything. Do they really want to win the league?"
Jurgen Klopp will leave Anfield at the end of the season and have not been able to leave a good result in Liverpool's final Merseyside derby. On the contrary, what we see is that a team that seems to have lost the momentum of the championship in the duel with the rival in the same city.
Although the gap with the top is only 3 points, it is likely to be fatal, and what do fans think happened to Liverpool, who has dropped the chain recently?
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