Liverpool 1-1 Everton – FA Cup Live Blog – 25 January 2008

Afternoon everybody, hope you’ve enjoyed some of the action from the FA Cup Fourth Round so far. We have a fitting conclusion to the weekend on tap here, as Everton head to Liverpool for the second installment of the famed Merseyside Derby this week.

Match Preview

In the last match, Tim Cahill snatched a late equalizer and 1-1 draw for Everton, and some have speculated that could give the boys from Goodison a boost today. We’ll have to wait in see. One blow for Everton is the news that Mikel Arteta will not be in the squad. That could be a huge loss for a team that relies on Arteta so much for his creative impetus. Other than that there’s not too much to say. The Merseyside Derby sort of speaks for itself – throw records, form, etc. out the window. And as always, feel free to chime in with comments throughout the game.

Line Ups

Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Anichebe, Castillo, Neville, Osman, Pienaar, Cahill

Subs: Nash, Yobo, Van der Meyde, Jacobsen, Rodwell, Jutkiewicz, Gosling.

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Skrtel, Carragher, Dossena, Kuyt, Alonso, Mascherano, Babel, Gerrard, Torres

Subs: Cavalieri, Hyypia, Riera, Aurelio, Benayoun, Leiva Lucas, Ngog.

Goals

Liverpool: Gerrard (54′)

Everton: Lescott (27′)

Live Blog

90+3′ And there’s the whistle. The second Merseyside derby this week ends just as the first one did, in a 1-1 draw. These teams will play again in 10 days time, and this time Everton will have their crowd at Goodison Park behind them.

90+2′ Nothing doing for Liverpool here. Another long ball finds nobody and is collected by Howard.

90+1′ Arbeloa centers and Steven Gerrard gets his head on it, but a half-chance at best.

90′ 3 minutes to be added on here.

89′ Long ball goes out of play for Liverpool, which means another goal kick and another chance for Tim Howard to waste time, which he does.

88′ First Carragher and then Riera send in crosses for Liverpool, but there’s nobody there to greet them. Nobody in the box for Liverpool. How can they have so much pressure and not have more people in there?

86′ Riera tries to turn around Hibbert and forces a corner. But Gerrard swinger doesn’t have enough height and is headed out.

85′ Dossena hits a rocket from about 35 yards out and Howard makes a good save. He gets up and barks at his defenders, but after that gaffe on the Liverpool goal, he doesn’t have much room to talk.

84′ Nice bit of skill in the corner by Torres to get around Lescott, but two Everton players are immediately there to cover.

83′ Dossena hits in a cross from the left, but Lescott deals with it.

81′ End-to-end stuff here. First Everton look set to break, but I believe it’s Mascherano who makes a nice interception and springs Gerrard down the right side. He comes in and centers to Dirk Kuyt in space, but the Dutchman’s shot is weak and right at Howard. Good chance wasted for Liverpool.

80′ Everton called for a handball and Gerrard whips in the free kick, but it’s dealt with.

79′ You have to believe Everton are content to play for a draw at this point. They haven’t had a sniff of the goal this half.

76′ Tackles everywhere in the midfield right now. Osman is the victim of a heavy challenge, then Pinaar is booked for taking down Skyrtel.

75′ Both teams making subs here. Albert Riera coming on for Ryan Babel for Liverpool. For Everton, Segundo Castillo is off, and 17-year-old Jack Rodwell comes on. A lot of confidence being shown by David Moyes in the young man.

74′ Jagielka tries to play it in but Reina collects easily. Then Gerrard drives in down the left side and shoots from a bad angle, but Howard goes to ground and collects the ball.

73′ Kuyt tries to play in Babel, but Howard comes off his line and slide to grab it.

71′ Anichebe coming off now. Dan Gosling on for him.

70′ Anichebe looks set to break but Mascherano is there to make a play. He grabs possession and is taken down dubiously by Cahill, who is on a yellow card. Bennett calls a foul, but no card for Cahill. He needs to be more careful, though.

68′ Pinaar tracking back here and wins a throw for Everton. You have to believe all hands will be on deck for Everton defensively from here on out.

66′ Well, plenty of time left, but Everton sure don’t look much like scoring. Then again, they didn’t in the first half when they got their goal. All it takes is one slip by Liverpool.

64′ Alonso tries to play it long for Torres and almost finds him. But it’s just a little to long, and goes out for a goalkick.

63′ Hey, Everton get a little possession in their end! Small victories, it seems. It doesn’t last long, and Liverpool get the ball back.

61′ The Liverpool fans will feel vindicated by Howard’s error. They booed the keeper loudly at the end of the first half for wasting time. What goes around comes around for the American, it seems.

60′ I need a break! Kuyt wins another corner for Liverpool, and Gerrard’s swinger finds Alonso’s head, but it doesn’t come real close to troubling Howard.

57′ Howard redeems himself. Torres played a centered ball down to Gerrard, who lashes one from 15 yards out and Howard makes a great reaction save. Liverpool pounding on the door again here.

56′A good ball played in to Kuyt who flicks it on with his head, but Howard manages to hold onto this one. Then Dossena centers one that is shakily dealt with. In the meantime Skyrtel takes an elbow from Cahill, who is called for a foul.

55′ Well, the announcers are laying into Timmy Howard and I have to say it’s justified. Terrible goalkeeping. He almost dove over the ball and let Gerrard beat him near post.

54′ Goal Liverpool! Who else but Steven Gerrard! 1-1! An absolutely beautiful back heel on by Torres plays in Gerrard who beats Howard near post. And there’s the breakthrough Liverpool needed. Looked like a savable shot, but what a play by Torres. He took the original pass off his chest and flicked it on with his backheel to put Gerrard through. You won’t see a better piece of skill.

53′ This time it’s Kuyt’s turn to try and make something happen. He does a few nifty stepovers before cutting right and centering, but this time it’s Lescott there to clear it.

52′ Gerrard passes to Babel who streaks down the left side. He tries to center it low but Jagielka is there to clear.

51′ Gerrard swings the ball in but Howard takes easily and rolls the ball out.

51′ Torres taken down 40 yards out on the right side. Free kick Liverpool.

49′ Anichebe goes down here for Everton after clearing the ball. He’s down for a little while, but as soon as he gets off to the sideline, he’s back on his feet and back on the pitch.

46′ Second half underway. Liverpool promply get the ball and try to move forward, but more resistance from Everton.

Halftime Well, this is one of those cases where the halftime stats don’t properly tell the story of this game. Liverpool has a 60-40 possession advantage and a 4-2 edge both shots and corners. But in truth, the Reds have been very poor so far, possessing the ball but doing very little with it. The ball has been in the Everton end much of the game, but they’ve rarely been troubled, and I can’t remember Howard having to make a difficult save. You can feel the pressure continuing to mount of Liverpool, and until they get a goal, that pressure is just going to build higher and higher.

Man of the match so far is Phil Jagielka. He’s been everywhere in defense for Everton, and anytime a Liverpool player seems to get a bit of daylight towards goal, Jagielka is there to close it off.

45+2′ And there’s the halftime whistle, and you can see the aggravation on Liverpool faces. Alonso angrily thumps the ball after the referee blows the halftime whistle. Meanwhile, the crew on Setanta just revealing that Carragher was booked in the tunnel for mouthing off to Steve Bennett. Dire times for Liverpool!

45+1′ Liverpool keeps coming but Everton are airtight. Dossena had a crack but his screamer is blocker and eventually lofted out. You can see Liverpool’s frustration started to build.

45′ Torres maneuvers in free for a second on the right side and tries to slip it in to Gerrard, but the pass pinballs off a defender, off Gerrard and out for a goal kick. The Kop groans again, and the Everton fans – who are positioned on the side Liverpool are attacking – jeer their frustrated rivals once again.

43′ Mascherano is afforded some space and rips one from 30 yards out, but his boot thumps off Lescott’s noggin and out for a corner. No trouble for Everton on the corner. They clear.

41′ Babel is played in along the left-hand side, but Jagielka out to cut it off and it’s out for a throw.

37′ Gerrard lofts a dangerous ball in from the right side toward the back post for Torres, but Jagielka is there and does enough to prevent a free header.

34′ Pinaar goes down again and this time there’s a whistle. Yellow card for Xabi Alonso, who just stuck his foot out and got a trip in.

32′ More pressure from Liverpool, but they’re lacking a little edge. Torres earns a corner but it’s cleared away.

30′ Well this has all the makings of a great one now. The Anfield crowd urging Liverpool on as they surge forward. But they’ve yet to break down this Everton defense.

29′ Cahill earns another corner here for Everton. This time Everton are called for a foul before the ball can be whipped in.

27′ It’s a Goal for Everton! 1-0! Tim Cahill gets the original header off the corner, but it’s Joleon Lescott who gets the final touch for Everton. Awful marking on both players by Liverpool, how can they not mark Cahill? Skyrtel was on him, but lost sight of the Everton striker. In any event, Everton, who haven’t won at Anfield in 10 years, have a lead against the run of play.

27′ Anichebe bombs down the left side for Everton. He tries to center but it’s deflected out. Corner.

25′ Castillo’s day gets a bit worse as he’s hacked down from behind by Babel. The official warns Bable, but no card.

24′ Castillo gets some jeers from the Anfield crowd after he loses the ball. Pretty tough scenario for the young man. Not only is he Mikel Arteta’s replacement in the squad, but he’s charged in part with marking Steven Gerrard. Yikes!

23′ Even when Everton possess the ball, they don’t look very threatening. Liverpool very much in control of the game, however it must be said Everton have defended well to this point.

20′ Phil Neville is called for a foul along the right sideline after a collision with Xabi Alonso. Gerrard’s free kick is well dealt with, however.

18′ Everton finally possess the ball a little bit. Pinaaer tries to cut in from the left and goes down about 30 yards out, but no call forthcoming. Steve Bennett even warns the South African for diving.

16′ Some sloppy Everton defending sees the ball bounce to Ryan Babel on the left side of the box. The lanky winger cuts in and creates space but his shot is woeful, and goes all the way out for a throw on the other side.

15′ They keep coming back to the Pinaar penalty decision. The folks on the tube pointing out that Everton have been awarded one penalty in 70 years at Anfield. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, though.

14′ Torres drag between Lescott’s legs, but the big man recovers in time and wins it back for Everton.

12′ Gerrard gets it on the left and cuts it back to Carragher, who finds himself in space in the box and has a go. A good effort, but it goes a bit wide of the post. Liverpool the better side here early.

11′ Torres wins a corner for Liverpool, but Gerrard’s inswinger from the left is cleared.

9′ We have our first yellow card of the match. And the lucky winner is Tim Cahill, whose called for a handball and then boots the ball away in frustration. Not sure if the card is for the hand ball or Cahill’s reaction after the whistle.

8′ Torres nods the ball forward to Gerrard, who tries to maneuver in but is shielded off and goes to ground weakly.

7′ Alonso lofts in a cross that is gobbled up easily by Howard.

5′ Everton clamoring for a penalty after Anichebe plays in Pinaar, who goes to ground after a bit of contact from Xabi Alonso. Good no call in my view from referee Steve Bennett. But the folks on Setanta seems to disagree, so what the heck do I know?

4′ Once again Liverpool down the right side. Gerrard plays to Kuyt whose cross goes awry and out of touch.

2′ Bright start from Liverpool. Torres breaks open on the right and whips in a cross that clanks off Babel and out of touch for a goalkick.

1′ Xabi Alonso lashes a low shot that skims across the goal and wide. Not too much trouble for Howard there.

1′ And we’re off! Liverpool in possession.

0′ Per FA Cup rules, there are twice as many Everton fans in attendance as there were in their meeting earlier in the week. Should only add to the atmosphere of what should be an already high-charged contest.

0′ The other result today of course a 0-0 draw between Arsenal and Cardiff City. A pretty fair result, in my opinion. Cardiff got the better of the Gunners in the first half, but Arsenal completely bossed the game in the second half. You’d have to think Arsenal will like its chances back at the Emirates.

0′ Interesting for Liverpool to see that Robbie Keane has been completely dropped from the squad. Just saw Rafa on Setanta saying he still feels Keane has a future with the club. We certainly shall see. Babel makes his way into the lineup for Liverpool, who look set to revert to they’re favored Champions League formation of a 4-2-3-1.

For Everton they’ll need somebody to create chances for them without Arteta. Certainly not easy shoes to fill. Cahill will be all alone up front, and he’ll need support from the likes of Pienaar and Anichebe.

Reaction

Well, I don’t think many fans will be too disappointed to see these two rivals duke it out again. They’ve provided two extremely entertaining matches in the span of a week, and I’m sure a third will be on tap in 10 days at Goodison Park. Liverpool really bossed the game and kept possession, but didn’t do much with the ball, save for Gerrard’s equalizer in the 54th minute. Everton looked quite comfortable in defense, and really for me, that was the story of this game. Jagielka and Lescott were both rock solid, their only blemish being Gerrard’s goal, which Howard clearly should have stopped. Liverpool will feel slightly disappointed not to have finished off Everton at home – they had Everton of their heels after the original goal. You wonder if the loss will rub off on Liverpool’s league form at all. Everton and their fans, meanwhile, will be brimming with confidence, with a home game against Arsenal scheduled for Wednesday.

Man of the Match

I have to go with Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott. They were very good in the center of defense for Everton, and afforded Liverpool, which dominated possession all night, very few chances. Jagielka was quick and opportunistic, always out to cut off passes or through balls, while Lescott was a force in the middle, strong in the air and always in the shooting lanes. Not to mention Lescott got Everton’s only goal, nudging along Tim Cahill’s header off a corner in the 27th minute. England manager Fabio Capello, who was in attendance, well certainly be impressed. With the exception of the few minutes after Gerrard’s goal, Everton looked solid at the back all night.