Virgil van Dijk scored an stoppage-time header to win the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium and boost Liverpool’s hopes of securing Champions League football next season.
The centre-back shrugged off the grappling of James Tarkowski to power home Dominik Szoboszlai’s inswinging corner into the six-yard box in the 10th minute of added time to silence the home crowd.
Victory put the Reds seven points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea with five matches remaining, one of which is at home to the Stamford Bridge side.
Mohamed Salah’s final Merseyside derby had looked like ending in frustration until that late intervention.
The Egypt international has few milestones left to reach before the end of his storied Anfield career, but equalling Steven Gerrard’s Premier League derby record of nine goals in these cross-city encounters was one of them, which he achieved with his 29th-minute opener.
Everton’s determination not to lose the first derby at their new home saw Beto’s fourth goal in three games bring a second-half equaliser, but Liverpool’s early-season habit of scoring late winners – which had deserted them for so long – returned with impeccable timing.
The scenes in front of the visiting fans at the final whistle – and the individual celebrations of Salah, Andy Robertson, who is also leaving, and Van Dijk in particular – showed just how important a result it was in terms of the season and not just local bragging rights.
After their Champions League exit to Paris St Germain in midweek with a fourth defeat in five games – their worst run heading into a derby in 15 years – Liverpool needed to capitalise on Chelsea’s defeat to Manchester United on Saturday.
And while their form – both collectively and individually – is still a concern, the result eased the pressure slightly.
Big-money signings Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz’s first experience of a Merseyside derby left them dazed and confused as Isak barely had a kick in 72 minutes, while the Germany international struggled to string two passes together.
Makeshift right-back Curtis Jones looked out of sorts and out of place, while even the usually reliable Szoboszlai failed to have an impact.
So it was some wonder they found themselves ahead in the 29th minute through Salah’s 12th of the season.
Liverpool’s press finally brought rewards as Dwight McNeil’s aimless pass backwards picked out Cody Gakpo and he threaded a brilliant ball in behind the centre-backs for Salah to sweep in at the far post.
It was against the run of play as Beto had forced an early diving save out of Giorgi Mamardashvili, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had induced Jones into a risky shoulder-to-shoulder challenge in the penalty area and Beto horribly skewed wide when one-on-one.
That was before Iliman Ndiaye had a goal ruled out after VAR spotted Jake O’Brien had been offside from Jordan Pickford’s long diagonal before crossing.
Salah’s fifth goal in eight games settled Liverpool down, with the Egyptian determined to make his last outing against the old enemy count, at one point tracking back to block Vitalii Mykolenko’s cross for a corner.
But Liverpool’s confidence is as fragile as their defending and when Ibrahima Konate reacted slowly to the excellent Dewsbury-Hall picking up Mykolenko’s ball down the left Beto slid in ahead of Robertson for the 54th-minute equaliser.
Goalkeeper Mamardashvili, in the side due to an injury to Alisson Becker, was carried off in the collision, which meant a Premier League debut for Freddie Woodman, who just over a year ago was playing for Preston against Portsmouth and whose only previous Liverpool appearance was October’s Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace.
The 29-year-old, with just four Premier League appearances to his name with Newcastle in 2021-22, dealt well with his first test, an angled shot from Ndiaye, while Robertson fired wide at the other end before Van Dijk scored Liverpool’s sixth added-time winner against Everton in the Premier League, the most against any single opponent in the competition’s history.
