Merseyside derby: All square at Goodison Park as Liverpool, Everton draw 1-1

Reds, Toffees play out sixth stalemate in seven meetings.

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool and Everton played out the sixth draw in their last seven meetings as a fiercely-contested but error-strewn Merseyside derby finished 1-1.

Danny Ings put Liverpool ahead when he capitalised on some lacklustre Everton defending and headed in from James Milner’s cross following a corner in the 41st minute.

But Romelu Lukaku ensured Everton took a deserved share of the spoils when he profited from Emre Can’s miscued clearance in first-half stoppage time.

Half-chances for Ings and Milner reflected Liverpool’s early positive intentions but it was Everton who twice tested Simon Mignolet in the first half-hour.

Goodison Park rose to its feet when Ross Barkley’s free kick picked out the unmarked head of Steven Naismith only for Mignolet to paw the ball away.

Tempers flared when Can held on to the ball to delay an Everton throw-in and both he and Barkley received yellow cards for their troubles.

With the momentum seemingly with Everton, Liverpool struck the first blow following a corner, with Barkley punished for some slack marking.

Everton’s response was instantaneous, with Liverpool’s defending for the equaliser also having a calamitous look about it.

Liverpool’s brittle defence was ruffled by Everton’s high pressing after the interval and the result was Brendan Rodgers’ side hit aimless long balls, easily handled by the home side’s defence.

In the end, Everton comfortable held Liverpool at bay and except for a minor scuffle between Lukaku and Mamadou Sakho, the second half remained quite drab.

‘If you want to sack me, sack me’

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho admitted that he risked the sack after a 3-1 home defeat by Southampton on Saturday left the Premier League champions 10 points off the pace.

“If the club wants to sack me, they have to sack me, because I am not running away,” said Mourinho. “It is a crucial moment in the history of this club because if they sack me, they sack the best manager this club has ever had.”

Having fallen behind to a 10th-minute Willian free-kick, Southampton hit back through Steven Davis, Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle to condemn Chelsea to their fourth defeat of the campaign.

‘Five-star Aguero wasn’t fully fit’

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed Sergio Aguero required half-time treatment on a hamstring injury before his remarkable five-goal spree in Manchester City’s 6-1 demolition of Newcastle.

“We knew he had a serious kick from Wednesday in Germany so maybe he can score one or two more but we have to have a precaution about his kick because he can be injured. He needed treatment at half-time,” said Pellegrini. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2015.

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