If there is anything left to be salvaged in this risible season for Jurgen Klopp, then this simply has to be the moment when it all turns for Liverpool; the moment when a confidence-shot, injury-riddled campaign of startling, dramatic underperformance was transformed into something entirely different at Anfield.
For a team who have struggled all term and even more markedly since the return of domestic action after Christmas, it seems scarcely believable that hopes of a top-four finish remain flickering in the wind. But with a Newcastle side who have drawn five of the last six next up at St James' Park on Saturday night and a game in hand still to be played, the Magpies, somehow, remain just about in sight for Klopp.
The charge up the league table must start now, though. Victory in the 242nd Merseyside derby has to represent more than merely bragging rights in the local skirmish and the acute schadenfreude of pushing the neighbours closer to the relegation mire.
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Having enjoyed such dominance in this fixture last season, when the Reds racked up a 6-1 victory across the two games, such a pronounced swing back to what was expected to be a genuinely competitive derby was not predicted to be this quick.
And given the Blues arrived at Anfield on the back of the morale-boosting shot in the arm that was their 1-0 win over Premier League leaders Arsenal last week, it was even being suggested that Everton headed into this one as, dare it even be said, favourites.
For those in blue who have ventured across Stanley Park for much of the past quarter of a century with little more than blind hope, those claims were overegging the pudding but there was little dispute, pre-match, that Liverpool's state of disarray gave Sean Dyche an instant chance to make himself an Everton hero.
It never looked likely, however, as Liverpool played with the sort of swagger that has been missing all too often in the last six months. And how reassuring it must be for Klopp that even in a season of calamities, the presence of the passive Blues can still give him three important points. Despite the understandable pre-match apprehension, this was in fact exactly what the manager and his charges needed.
The German has now won eight of his derbies, equalling the Premier League record of Rafa Benitez, who chalked up zero of those during his ill-fated, short-lived stint at Goodison Park.
The excellent Jordan Henderson and Fabinho returned to the side after sitting on the substitutes' bench for most of the last four games, while there was a trio of significant boosts elsewhere as Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino all returned to the squad.
A quiet first-half of few chances was indicative of two sides who have been out of form for quite some time but in actuality it was exactly what notoriously slow starters Liverpool needed, despite the occasion demanding 90 minutes of full throttle blood and thunder.
Liverpool had the lead just seconds after Everton had created the best chance of the game. After James Tarkowski's header had hit the post, Darwin Nunez played a one-two with Mohamed Salah near the edge of his own box and embarked on a powerful run before supplying the assist with a delicate pass down the other end of the pitch for the Egypt star's 18th of the campaign. It was a stunning breakaway goal, the type of which we've not seen in some time from Klopp's players.
It was a similar story for the Reds' second, early in the second half, when Cody Gakpo scored his first goal for his new club. Andy Robertson, on his 250th Liverpool appearance, did so well to open the game up with a surge through midfield before his pass to Salah allowed Trent Alexander-Arnold the chance to put it on a plate for Gakpo at the back post. After seven games of toil, this was the moment the Netherlands international had been dreaming about since his early January move from PSV.
The £37m forward instantly looked transformed and started playing with a confidence that has been absent since he joined. One sharp turn and dribble on the halfway line saw Gakpo escape the attention of Idrissa Gueye before Nunez slammed the pass wide of the post.
Klopp was able to send on Jota for the final 20 minutes or so as the Portugal international replaced the excellent Nunez, whose all-action performance earned him a standing ovation from the Kop. The reintroduction of Firmino, in his first appearance since November 12, was also hugely welcomed too late on as he came in for Gakpo.
By the closing stages, Liverpool supporters had started to enjoy themselves, resorting to glib chants about the severity of Everton's plight at the bottom end of the table. "This is your last trip to Anfield!" they roared. "Have fun at Preston away next season!" shouted one fan in particular as the crowds streamed out at full time. The sad part, from Merseyside football's perspective is, they have more than a kernel of truth to them.
That, though, is now Dyche’s problem and Klopp has more than enough of his own to sort, even if a few might have disappeared after this latest derby day triumph.
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