Report: Everton 2-2 Liverpool
Date: 17 October 2020
Venue: Goodison Park
A late Video Assistant Referee (VAR) call ensured an entertaining Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool finished 2-2 on Saturday afternoon.
The Reds made four changes from the heavy defeat at Aston Villa, with Joel Matip, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane all returning alongside Thiago Alcantara, who made his first league start.
Liverpool were forceful early on and Mane fired them ahead in just the third minute with a first-time finish towards the top corner at the near post after a cut-back from Andrew Robertson.
The visitors had an early injury set-back after Virgil van Dijk left the pitch in the tenth minute, with Joe Gomez taking his place. Soon after, Everton got back into the game in the 19th minute after Michael Keane powered home a header at the near post from James Rodriguez' corner.
Mane came close to restoring the lead for Jurgen Klopp's charges with ten minutes left of the first stanza after receiving almost a similar cut-back from Robertson in the centre of the box but this time side-footed his shot wide.
The sides were cautious in the early exchanges of the second stanza but Richarlison almost gave Everton the lead on the hour-mark with a glancing header at the back post that came off the post from Rodriguez's cross.
The game was getting tightly contested and Mohamed Salah restored the lead for the Reds 18 minutes before time with a rocket past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford after Yerry Mina's attempted clearance fell on his path.
Pickford kept Everton in the game with two big saves to keep out Joel Matip's header and a swerving strike from Mane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin levelled matters for Carlo Ancelotti's men in the last nine minutes with a towering header from Lucas Digne's cross.
There was drama in the end as Everton were reduced to ten men in the last minute after Richarlison got a straight red card for a violent challenge on Alcantara.
Henderson thought he had nettted the winner for Liverpool in stoppages with a low strike that Pickford could only help into the back of the net after a cut-back by Mane but the goal was disallowed for offside on the Senegalese by VAR as the encounter finished goalless.
