In the end, it felt like Liverpool needed that perhaps more than any of us on the outside had realised.
For most of us, those of us not directly involved in it, the title race has felt over for really quite a long time now.
But it clearly hasn’t felt that way for Liverpool themselves. And there were signs everywhere during a vaguely fraught 1-0 win over Everton that stretches their lead over Arsenal back out to 12 points.
The nervousness around Anfield and the sheer audible scale of the relief that greeted Diogo Jota’s goal and the final whistle, the animated ’10 seconds’ gestures in the final moments from a manager who has (nearly always…) exuded calm throughout Liverpool’s title march but couldn’t stand still as the seconds ticked by here.
Assorted quirks have worked against Liverpool over recent weeks. The fact this was their first Premier League game since March 8 seems absurd. Liverpool had to sit back powerless and watch Arsenal eat away seven points of their lead; even without the fact this was accompanied by the pain of Champions League exit and Carabao misfire it would be enough to make you think a bit.
It had quite simply been an alarmingly long time since Liverpool had actually won a game of football, given how well things are actually going.
And it wasn’t a huge surprise to see this game prove a hard nut to crack. It was neither Liverpool’s best nor worst performance of the season, but it was a largely predictable one against an Everton side who set themselves up to defend in numbers and counter-attack with menace and speed. On another night it absolutely could have worked.
Beto’s tireless and largely thankless work up front could so easily have been rewarded. For a man who was so often isolated he gave both Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk enormous strife in that first half particularly. He had the ball in the net when narrowly offside, and should have scored when clear on goal minutes later after a van Dijk air-kick.
Beto scores that one and we’re all talking about a Moyes Masterclass.
Yet Beto hitting the post wasn’t even the first major sliding-doors moment of this match. Liverpool’s eventual win will perhaps quieten the noise a little, but it probably shouldn’t. Quite how James Tarkowski escaped a red card for planting his studs high into Alexis Mac Allister’s leg is something we do deserve to be told.
Ignore the Utter Woke Nonsense! and He Got The Ball! talk that will inevitably follow from some quarters. Tarkowski knew exactly what he was doing, and this was a challenge that ticked every box we’re told needs ticking for serious foul play. It endangered an opponent and Tarkowski’s anything-but-quiet contribution to this season’s Merseyside Derbies should have ended right there barely 10 minutes into the game.
We’re not slavish believers here that ex-pros always know best, but this sort of tackle – the leg-breaker unconvincingly disguised as a simple and innocent common-or-garden clearance gone unfortunately awry – is one scenario where we should all defer. They all know that Tarkowski knows what he’s doing. They all say it’s a clear red card.
And if you were still defending Tarkowski when half-time rolled around and Duncan Actual Ferguson was going ‘Yeah, it’s a straight red card all day long’ then it really is time to have a look at yourself.
Liverpool for their part found it incredibly difficult to pick a path through Everton’s massed ranks. Liverpool aren’t exactly stumbling over the line – they’ve still lost only one league game all season, and that back in September – but some of the fluency and poise of their best early-season work has for now evaporated. Our suspicion is that you’ll see that return once the title is confirmed.
And that really shouldn’t take all that long now.
The goal was a lovely thing, Luis Diaz flicking the ball into the path of Diogo Jota who displayed quickness of both mind and feet to first extricate himself from the attention of Everton’s defenders and then slip the ball past Jordan Pickford. It was neither the assist nor the goal you might expect from players who have come under plenty of fire in recent times for their lack of tangible contribution at the business end of the pitch.
For Luis Diaz in particular, it was the defining moment of a fine evening’s work. Jota was still patchier in general, but it’s hard to argue with the quality he showed in that vital moment when opportunity knocked.
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