Cody Gakpo of Liverpool is challenged by Abdoulaye Doucoure of Everton in the course of the Premier League match at Anfield on February 13, 2023
| Photo Credit: Getty Images
With three fist pumps in entrance of the house followers, Jurgen Klopp celebrated his 250th win as Liverpool supervisor after beating Everton 2-0 on Monday.
Victory in the Merseyside derby is all the time one thing to savor in these components. But such have been Liverpool’s troubles in latest weeks {that a} win of any description would have been gratefully obtained by the Anfield crowd.
Sitting ninth in the standings, this was a first victory in the Premier League in 2023 for Liverpool and solely the second in eight video games in all competitions.
While a Champions League-qualifying place in the highest 4 remains to be 9 factors off, there have been indicators that the win in the 242nd Merseyside derby can present a lift-off for supervisor Klopp’s faltering workforce.
January signing Cody Gakpo scored for the first time for his new membership and there was excellent news on the damage entrance as fit-again Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino got here off the bench in the second half.
Virgil van Dijk, who has additionally been out with damage, was an unused substitute.
“Tonight we were there and that has to be the sign for us what we have to do. We probably had 70% possession and scored from two counters, that makes it special,” Klopp mentioned.
This season has been fairly the come down for a Liverpool workforce that challenged for an unprecedented quadruple final 12 months.
There have, nevertheless, been mitigating circumstances, with Klopp having to deal with accidents to key gamers, whereas additionally studying to stay with out ahead Sadio Mane, who left for Bayern Munich final summer season.
Still, the workforce’s erratic kind has been arduous for followers to take, with the Champions League their solely practical hope of a trophy this season.
In the league, fourth place stays a distant goal, with a humbling 3-0 loss to Wolverhampton in Liverpool’s earlier match being a measure of its struggles.
Hardly shocking then that Klopp celebrated so enthusiastically in entrance of the Kop
“We needed this game, we needed the performance, our people absolutely deserved it. I loved the atmosphere – it is an insane atmosphere people create here,” he mentioned.
There was nothing for brand spanking new Everton supervisor Sean Dyche to cheer as he was consigned to defeat in his first Merseyside derby and couldn’t construct on the morale-boosting win in opposition to league-leading Arsenal in his opening recreation in cost.
“All games are important, but it’s fair to say people were wondering if we would get a point from our first two games,” Dyche said. “To get three, I’m not too disappointed with that. I’m a realist and I know how tough the Premier League is.”
It might have been different for Everton if James Tarkowski’s first-half header had found the back of the net, rather than rebounding off the post.
Within moments it was the visitors who were behind as Liverpool immediately countered and Mo Salah opened the scoring in the 36th minute.
Gakpo sealed the win when he tapped in from close range in the 49th.
The Netherlands forward, a $45 million signing from PSV Eindhoven last month, had failed to score in his previous six appearances for his new club, but he had no trouble converting after Trent Alexander-Arnold fired a cross to the far post.
Everton is in the relegation zone, one point behind 17th-placed Leeds, which it meets on the weekend.
Liverpool travels to fourth-place Newcastle next, hoping to cut the gap further on its rival for that last Champions League qualifying position.
Before kick off Liverpool learned its fans had been cleared of blame after the events at last year’s Champions League final in Paris, where riot police fired tear gas at them outside the Stade de France.
An independent review found UEFA mostly responsible for the security failures that saw supporters locked out of the stadium in crushed queues that “almost led to disaster.”
