After Sean Dyche’s debut delight defeating Premier League leaders Arsenal, with lamentable predictability Everton came crashing back down to earth across Stanley Park with what became a routine Merseyside derby win for Liverpool as the home fans taunted them with chants of 'this is your last trip to Anfield'.
Although the Blues were without injured striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who Dyche had admitted in his pre-match press conference was “touch and go at best” to feature here due to a hamstring problem, prompting the manager to hand Ellis Simms – recalled from a loan spell at Sunderland last month – with only his second ever Premier League start, there was little to choose between the sides in the opening exchanges.
Indeed, a mere 13 second before Liverpool took the lead, James Tarkowski had come agonisingly close to repeating his trick against the Gunners having rattled a header against the post from a corner kick. But the hosts countered in devastating fashion and with Everton’s defenders left chasing shadows, Jordan Pickford suffered another calamity in front of the Kop as he found himself hopelessly out of position to afford Mohamed Salah a tap-in into an empty net.
