Having rewatched last season’s defeat, Slot had warned Liverpool not to concede free kicks and Everton have long had an emphasis on set-pieces, but this was a variant on a theme; not the aerial ball beloved of Sean Dyche’s teams but a low free kick by Jarrad Branthwaite, quickly taken, finding Beto running in behind Ibrahima Konate.
“We won the league at Goodison Park,” chorused the Liverpool supporters, eyeing a nine-point lead at the Premier League summit, imagining Mohamed Salah had scored the final goal in this fixture at the most historic of grounds.
Everton 2-2 Liverpool: James Tarkowski’s volleyed effort rescued a point in stoppage time unleashing chaos after the final whistle.
And so, with an equaliser and a pitch invasion, with a trio of red cards and the calmest manager in the Premier League fuming, Goodison’s final derby ended.
Everton had to endure a lengthy and nervous wait for a VAR check – scarcely a worry when Goodison hosted its first derby in 1894 – before the goal stood.
