Liverpool ensured they would still have plenty to play for between now and the end of the season as they gave their chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League a massive boost with a 2-0 victory over Everton at Anfield.
Goals from Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo either side of half-time were enough to down the Blues and condemn Sean Dyche to his first defeat as Everton boss. For Jurgen Klopp and his side, meanwhile, victory sees them move up to ninth place in the Premier League table.
After a gritty opening half hour at Anfield, a lighting-quick counter-attack from the Reds, orchestrated by the sheer speed of Darwin Nunez, allowed Salah to notch his eighth Premier League goal of the campaign and capitalise on some woeful positioning from Jordan Pickford.
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Liverpool's £37m January arrival, Gakpo, was on hand shortly after the interval to clinch the three points for Klopp's side when he found himself in acres of space at the back post to tap home Trent Alexander-Arnold's low-driven cross.
Here's how the national media and the ECHO's own Paul Gorst, reacted to the resounding Anfield win.
Andy Hunter - The Guardian - "Liverpool realised there was nothing to fear"
"It took a while, but once Liverpool realised there was nothing to fear from Everton they also remembered that a Merseyside derby at Anfield is an occasion to enjoy. And to torment their local rival," writes Hunter. “Last trip to Anfield,” taunted the Kop as Jürgen Klopp’s team savoured a first Premier League win of 2023 at the expense of their relegation-threatened neighbours. Liverpool prospered on the counter-attack and from Everton clumsiness to secure a comfortable victory in the 242nd Merseyside derby.
"All 208 league editions of the most-played derby in English football history have come in the top flight but whether there will be any more next season rests entirely on Sean Dyche’s ability to conjure a goalscoring threat out of his new charges."
Richard Jolly - The Independent - "The most telling contribution still came from Darwin Nunez"
"There was a new element to victory, too: a Cody Gakpo goal. The Dutchman had neither scored nor assisted in his first six games and if a false start to his Liverpool career was more a consequence of the team’s failings than his own shortcomings, a tap-in felt a welcome development nonetheless," writes Jolly.
"And yet, on a night when two of Liverpool’s front three scored and an increasingly rampant Salah threatened a brace, there was a case for saying the most telling contribution still came from Darwin Nunez, such was his barnstorming role in the opener. Liverpool could celebrate the parts played by a fourth and fifth forward, too: Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino made their comebacks as substitutes.
"Even as Liverpool were without Thiago Alcantara, it was a night when they had few reasons to rue the injuries that have pockmarked their season. While much else has changed at Anfield this year, this was an occasion with a depressing familiarity for Everton. Jurgen Klopp has only lost one of 17 Merseyside derbies. Everton have never won at Anfield in front of a crowd since 1999. Sean Dyche should be able to find plenty of predecessors who know how he is feeling."
Jason Burt - The Telegraph - "Klopp got it spot on"
"Klopp got it spot on. Just like the belief, players are returning while a couple of the big signings suddenly showed their worth," writes Burt. "This was indisputably Cody Gakpo’s best game since he signed from PSV Eindhoven in January, as a deeper central striker, and he finally got his first goal while there was a standing ovation for Darwin Nunez as he was substituted.
"There was a roar also in that he was replaced by Diogo Jota, back at last from injury as was Roberto Firmino. The reinforcements are arriving – Virgil van Dijk was unneeded from the bench - and Liverpool have so much ground to make up… but who knows?
"Maybe Klopp might have to consider playing four up front – a return to that ‘Fab Four’ (when it was Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Firmino and Phillipe Coutinho) given the awesome resources he could soon have at his disposal especially with Luis Diaz to also return. It feels powerful and threatening to the rest of the league."
Henry Winter - The Times - "Anfield felt like a fotress again"
"More important, Anfield felt a fortress again, Liverpool looked a real team again," confidence restored," writes Winter. "Their neighbours live so close but there was a gulf here," writes Winter. "Everton had actually started strongly, seeming to be continuing to respond to Sean Dyche’s management methods. They looked tigerish in the opening stages, Mykolenko knocking over Salah. As the players had walked from the tunnel, Conor Coady was typically vocal, stirring up his Everton team-mates.
"Coady has played for Liverpool — for 62 minutes, a decade ago. He knew how much this meant. Everton forgot how much this also meant to Liverpool. The Kop chorused their love for Klopp, and frequently Núñez, who was almost unplayable at times.
"Everton’s lack of a fit, experienced centre forward, and their failure to invest in January, continued to cost them. Dyche sprang a surprise by starting the 22-year-old Simms, Everton’s No 50. He has been on loan at Blackpool, Hearts and Sunderland. Now he was leading the Everton line in the 242nd Merseyside derby. He lasted an hour.
"It highlighted the paucity of resources in attack when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was again injured. Everton’s leading scorer this season with five, Demarai Gray, started on the bench alongside the disappointing Neal Maupay. Their second-most prolific player this season, Anthony Gordon, has disappeared to Newcastle United. Simms almost profited from an early Joël Matip mistake as Liverpool worked the nerves out of their system.
"Then Liverpool remembered who they were, a Klopp side, an attacking force, and they flooded forward. Núñez cut in from the left, eventually brought down by Tarkowski. Everton’s wall was too strong for Salah’s free kick. But Liverpool were clicking."
Paul Gorst - Liverpool ECHO - "The most telling contribution still came from Darwin Nunez"
"The most telling contribution still came from Darwin Nunez," writes Gorst in his ECHO verdict. "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."
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