Everton - 1 Liverpool - 2 From the frenzy of Merseyside's 168th league derby, Liverpool mustered the only two flashes of quality to move within three points of third place. David Moyes' Everton, for all their hustle and bustle, emerged deflated.
Moyes has always denied that finishing above Liverpool was his side's principal aim. But the club's supporters - after 16 years as the city's also-rans - had grown to see their narrow points advantage in the league as a marker of astounding progress made under the Scot. Now that lead has been lost, the taunts from across Stanley Park return.
"At the start of the season if anyone had said we'd be in this position, still with a chance to reach the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, we'd have taken that," Moyes said. "People are talking as if that's the norm now. It's great they're thinking like that. We're hurting because we lost to our local rivals, but they set out to qualify for the Champions League and we set out to avoid relegation. There's a huge financial gap between us."
It may not have been obvious on the pitch this season, but off it the chasm remains. Liverpool's board, with a hefty wage bill to meet, and their manager seeking transfer funds to mount a more coherent challenge next season, demand Champions League football.
Moyes has produced miracles on a shoestring, but that can only go on for so long. A UEFA Cup berth still appears more likely this time round, though victory from today's daunting trip to Stamford Bridge would rekindle loftier hopes even if an Evertonian win would be celebrated with similar gusto by Gerard Houllier.
"They can get a result at Chelsea," said the Frenchman, his seventh successive derby without defeat having hauled his team to within striking distance of the Londoners. Free-falling Charlton are less than daunting opponents today.
The talk had all been about Wayne Rooney ripping into the makeshift centre-half pairing of Djimi Traore and Igor Biscan. The Croat lasted eight minutes before hobbling off with a hip injury but his replacement, Salif Diao, who filled in at right-back, Jamie Carragher and Traore were all outstanding. Liverpool swarmed around Rooney whenever he gained possession. His impact was duly suffocated.
Out of Everton's urgency emerged Liverpool's quality. Michael Owen cut inside Joseph Yobo and belted his first derby goal from open play inside Richard Wright's near post. David Unsworth's battered penalty after Carragher tripped Gary Naysmith briefly brought parity only for Danny Murphy, gathering possession 30 yards out, to curl a breathtaking shot in off a post.
Cue Evertonian exasperation. By the time El Hadji Diouf, clipped by Naysmith, stopped his comical rolling the Scot had been dismissed to join David Weir in the dressing-room after seeing two yellow cards. That left a bitter taste, though disappointment at this result must not be allowed to overshadow Moyes' achievements this term.
Guardian Service
EVERTON: Wright, Yobo, Weir, Stubbs, Unsworth, Watson (Ferguson 69), Carsley, Gravesen (Gemmill 76), Naysmith, Campbell, Rooney. Subs Not Used: Alexandersson, Li Tie, Simonsen. Sent Off: Weir (82), Naysmith (90). Booked: Gravesen, Naysmith, Weir, Stubbs. Goals: Unsworth 58 pen.
LIVERPOOL: Dudek, Carragher, Biscan (Diao 8), Traore, Riise, Heskey, Gerrard, Hamann, Murphy, Owen, Baros (Diouf 66). Subs Not Used: Smicer, Arphexad, Cheyrou. Booked: Gerrard, Hamann, Baros. Goals: Owen 31, Murphy 64.
Referee: P Durkin (Dorset).
