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IT MIGHT not have been smoke coming over the Kop but 10-man Liverpool certainly caught fire against their neighbours.
The half-time announcement said: “There is nothing on fire”, and added that the white stuff billowing around the ground was in fact mist, which amused Anfield.
With Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos endorsing the fact that this is the dirtiest derby in town, becoming the 18th player to be sent off in the fi xture since the advent of the Premier League, there seemed little hope that Rafa Benitez’s depleted side could create a spark.
The game had been a tinderbox throughout, with scything tackles and body blocks like those which will be on show in tonight’s Super Bowl.
Against the odds, Liverpool responded with Dirk Kuyt’s headed winner – his 50th goal for the club. Instead of damage limitation Liverpool, desperate for that fourth place and the fi nal Champions League qualifying spot, went for it.
Ten minutes after the break they were rewarded as the inspirational Steven Gerrard, arms pumping and a blur of frenzied energy, kept his composure to deliver a corner perfectly for Kuyt to ignore the pushing and shoving in the six-yard box and fi nd the back of the net. It’s now 17 points from a possible 21 for a rejuvenated Liverpool, who could yet match Benitez’s boast of a “guaranteed fourth place”.
The Liverpool boss said: “It was an amazing performance. We worked hard from the start to the end. The fans were behind the team. Everyone was together. The commitment of the players was fantastic.
“I told my players to play with their heads and not their hearts. I can’t ask any more of my players. Hopefully we can take this confi dence into our next game.”
That’s Arsenal at the Emirates on Wednesday night. Skipper Gerrard can’t wait. He said: “Derbies don’t come much better than this. It was all about passion, commitment and fight. “Getting through this with 10 men was about attitude and sticking together,” England’s new vice-captain added.
Everton were eventually reduced to 10 men – but not until the dying embers of a throbbing game. Steven Pienaar was shown a second yellow for an aerial challenge on Gerrard.
He could have gone earlier for a nasty lunge on Javier Mascherano, from which Sky TV pundit Jamie Redknapp maintained the Argentine international was fortunate to escape without a broken leg.
Everton boss David Moyes said: “I can’t have any complaints. I didn’t see it at the time but afterwards I saw that he was fortunate to stay on for that tackle on Mascherano.” Never a game for the squeamish, a crunching tackle by Jamie Carragher on Pienaar in the opening seconds set the tone for this X-rated derby.
When these two tribes go to war the weapons of mass destruction are there for all to see. They are found in the muscular bodies of street fighters like Mascherano, Lucas, Pienaar and Marouane Fellaini.
When referee Martin Atkinson took another look at the explosive first-half incident last night he might have felt he had been too lenient. Kyrgiakos and Fellaini made contact with inevitable consequences.
Both appeared to have been as aware of opposition limbs as they were of the ball. The main difference for Atkinson was that Kyrgiakos had launched himself with both feet.
After taking his time attempting to douse down the fl ames and dragging incensed players apart, the official showed Kyrgiakos the red card while Fellaini was treated.
The Belgian star seemed fortunate to escape punishment after appearing to catch Kyrgiakos. He crumpled in a heap at the side of the pitch and went to hospital, where X-rays cleared him of any serious damage.
Liverpool came out firing but Everton, despite the prompting of Landon Donovan, lost their way despite a late foray in which Pepe Reina made a couple of fine stops.
And this used to be the friendly derby, at least off the pitch. Not any more. A rancorous 213th collision of the Merseyside rivals produced a deserved home win, courtesy of Dirk Kuyt's 50th goal for the Anfield side, but also red cards for Liverpool's Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Steven Pienaar of Everton.
Their dismissals took the total of sendings-off in the fixture since the inception of the Premier League in 1992 to 19, more than any other game. Kyrgiakos' exit left Liverpool to play nearly two-thirds of the match a man short but Everton, who lost Marouane Fellaini on the stretcher after his clash with the Greek defender, never looked capable of exploiting their advantage. Pienaar's banishment in stoppage time merely sealed a wretched afternoon for David Moyes' team.
The three points, secured by Kuyt early in the second half, took Liverpool's tally to 17 out of 21, and in those seven matches only Stoke City, with a scrambled last-gasp equaliser, have beaten Pepe Reina. That the Spanish goalkeeper was scarcely called upon to make a save worthy of the name until the 89th minute, when he dived to tip over Yakubu's shot, was an indictment of an Everton side who had not lost in nine games since a 2-0 defeat in the previous derby.
Liverpool were particularly well served by Jamie Carragher, a boyhood Evertonian, who switched from right-back to central defence following Kyrgiakos' departure. His bone-shuddering but legitimate challenge on Pienaar in the first 10 seconds left the South African nursing a sore shoulder, and possibly a grievance, while reminding colleagues from further afield and with less experience of the fixture what to expect.
Even without three of Rafael Benitez's most creative performers, Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun and Glen Johnson, Liverpool had the edge while it was still 11 against 11. Fellaini's ankle injury, which X-rays showed was less serious than first feared, allowed Everton to introduce Mikel Arteta, who has not played a full match for more than a year, but even his dancing feet could not trick them into carving out a clear opening.
Tim Howard had an early warning of the set-piece prowess that would bring Liverpool their winner with a whipped-in free-kick after four minutes that the Everton goalkeeper punched clear with difficulty. Daniel Agger also fired over when well placed, yet the first half rapidly descended into a series of fouls and altercations, with the referee, Martin Atkinson, struggling to maintain control. Liverpool were more sinned against than sinning – there were bad challenges by Leighton Baines on David Ngog and Fellaini on Kuyt – but when Kyrgiakos ploughed into Fellaini with his feet off the ground in the 34th minute, Atkinson issued a straight red. Fellaini had also gone over the top in the tackle but to the Kop's consternation, none of the officials spotted it.
Everton's best chance came late in the first half, when Tim Cahill, whose last eight goals have all been headers, dived to head narrowly over after an untypically intricate move. But the Liverpool 10 were not simply sitting back, and Steven Gerrard, still without a League goal in 2010, clipped Howard's bar from a free-kick. However, when the Liverpool captain swung in a 55th-minute corner, Kuyt, unperturbed by Phil Neville's attempt to pull him back, headed his 10th goal of the season and fourth in derbies.
Fog swirled above the pitch, and as the card count kept rising – it finished on six yellows plus the two reds – Moyes pointed to his watch while Liverpool dug in. Pienaar, fortunate to stay on after a shocking lunge on Javier Mascherano on the half-hour, finally ran out of luck when he jumped into Gerrard and walked a gauntlet of baying Liverpudlians on his way off.
Steven Gerrard surveyed the crime count, the injury wreckage and the fall-out from an epic Merseyside derby and declared: “That’s the way the fans love it.”
The Liverpool skipper was right. The Reds, reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of Sotirios Kyrgiakos after 34 minutes, triumphed thanks to Dirk Kuyt’s opportunist header.
Referee Martin Atkinson showed two red cards, six yellow and still won herograms from both sides.
Liverpool skipper Gerrard said: “That’s what derbies are all about. It was perfect. Passion, commitment and fight. We’ve beaten a very good Everton side today with ten men and we should all enjoy this win.
“They have been on a fabulous run but we’ve beaten them after going a man down. The tackles were flying in but that’s what it’s like in every derby.
“I thought the ref was absolutely superb. He let things go when he could.
“That’s what the fans come to see - commitment and spirit. There’s still a lot of difficult work ahead but we’re capable of beating anyone.”
Kyrgiakos was dismissed for a double-footed challenge on Marouane Fellaini.The Everton midfield star was carried off and taken to hospital.
Precautionary X-rays revealed there had been no fractures. Everton had Steven Pienaar red carded in added time for his second bookable offence.
Everton manager David Moyes said: “I can’t enjoy it now, but when I look back in time I’ll probably think it was a great match to be involved in. It was quite feisty at times but that’s why supporters enjoy them. It was a definite sending off for their boy. It was a two-footed tackle and the Liverpool player had both feet off the floor.
“Fellaini has been for an X-ray. Fortunately it’s clear.”
Moyes also had no qualms about Pienaar seeing red. He said: “We’ve no complaints about Pienaar’s sending-off because he was fortunate to stay on the pitch earlier in the game for a tackle.”
Kuyt has been a key man in Liverpool’s on-going revival.
The Dutchman said: “It was a very tough game especially after the red card but we defended very well and scored a great goal from a set-piece.”
Manager Rafa Benitez said: “It was a massive win. It was a great result for us.”
Hull are facing a fight to hang on to wonder kid Tom Cairney.
The teenage sensation is already being tracked by Premier League big guns - after just five senior starts for the Tigers.
Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton are monitoring Cairney’s progress and are ready to slug it out for his signature in the summer.
City boss Phil Brown is determined to hang on to the 19-year-old midfielder but the financially fragile Humberside outfit may have no option but to cash in on their top young talent if they are relegated.
Two sent off, another taken to hospital and the matchwinner left nursing a black eye.
Anfield’s House of Scouse became the House of Pain as the two tribes of Merseyside slugged it out on and off the pitch for the 213th time.
Liverpool’s Sotirios Kyrgiakos lasted 34 minutes before being red-carded for a two-footed tackle on Marouane Fellaini that ended with the Belgian put on an X-ray machine at Fazackerley Hospital.
Everton’s Steven Pienaar, who had sparked an afternoon of spite with an over-the-top challenge on Javier Mascherano that even David Moyes admitted warranted an instant dismissal, eventually departed when his injury-time barge on Steven Gerrard brought him a second yellow card.
It was the 19th sending off in the last 36 league meetings between the clubs – a Premier League record
By then, Rafa Benitez’s 10 men had gained an advantage they never looked like relinquishing after Dirk Kuyt had guided home his 50th Liverpool goal in the 55th minute from Gerrard’s wickedly-delivered corner.
“That’s what derbies are all about,” said Gerrard. “It’s about passion, commitment and fight and that’s what the fans love.”
The Liverpool captain was dead right. Flowing football was at a premium, but the contest made utterly compelling viewing.
Sanitised Premier League football this wasn’t, as the fog that swirled in from the Mersey added to an electric atmosphere cranked up by Liverpool’s inconsistent form this season and Everton’s surge up the table.
The friendly derby? Gone are the days when red and blue sit together. Stewards and police took up the front row of the Anfield Road’s top tier to prevent home fans throwing anything more vicious than insults towards the Everton supporters housed below.
Toffees’ captain Phil Neville set the tone with a first-minute lunge that sent Gerrard tumbling.
When Mascherano exacted retribution with a late stamp on Fellaini’s ankle, it seemed referee Martin Atkinson was losing control.
Atkinson’s patience finally snapped when Kuyt cynically tripped Landon Donovan and the Dutchman became the first of six bookings.
But the temperature continued to rise when Pienaar stamped on Mascherano and escaped with only a yellow card. Liverpool’s Argentine midfielder was fortunate to emerge with nothing more serious that a shattered shin pad.
Moyes said: “We have no complaints about Steven’s sending off because earlier in the game he was fortunate to stay on the pitch.”
That didn’t stop Jamie Carragher catching Pienaar in a man-trap of a tackle to join the list of miscreants.
When the carnage subsided temporarily, Maxi Rodriguez and Gerrard set up David Ngog who drilled his shot wide.
But the game exploded in the 34th minute when Kyrgiakos and Fellaini challenged for a 50-50 ball. Kyrigiakos slid in with two feet while Fellaini led with his studs and both took the full force of the collision.
But Atkinson decided the Greek was the aggressor and allowed him to receive treatment before producing the red card.
Fellaini was eventually replaced by Mikel Arteta after Everton’s medical staff had spent six minutes working on his shin.
An X-ray showed Fellaini had suffered nothing more serious than severe bruising, but he will still undergo another precautionary scan today.
Gerrard almost produced the breakthrough when his 25-yard free-kick bounced off the top of the bar.
At the other end, Tim Cahill’s flying header also clipped the bar after Mascherano had diverted Donovan’s cross towards the Australian.
It was fitting that muscle should win the game.
Kuyt had Howard behind him and Neville backing into his chest when Gerrard swung in a corner, but the Dutchman held off them off to guide his header into the corner and send the Kop into ecstacy.
Gerrard sparked another row when he smashed into Pienaar and was booked along with Victor Anichebe when calm was restored.
Despite their one-man advantage, Everton did not threaten until the closing minutes.
First Pepe Reina went full stretch to tip over substitute Yakubu’s long-range strike, then reacted well again to deny Anichebe.
When Pienaar caught Gerrard with a late but unintentional challenge as they tussled for a high ball, he was walking before Atkinson could produce his cards.
SIR ALEX FERGUSON is ready to bring in a new era at Manchester United by fast- tracking a deal for Jack Rodwell.
Fergie's plan is for the Everton defender-cum-midfielder to join next summer's recruit Chris Smalling in the United back line in years to come.
The United boss pipped Arsenal in the hunt for Fulham starlet Smalling, 20.
Now he wants to get the ball rolling on a summer deal for 19-year-old Rodwell.
United value their man at £12million and with relations between Everton and the Reds still frosty over Wayne Rooney's 2005 switch, Ferguson is determined to get talks under way early and amicably.
The manager is doing everything he can to maintain his tried and trusted partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic and, despite injury worries and rumours of unrest, is confident of them being in place for seasons to come.
But he sees a Smalling- Rodwell partnership as their long-term successors.
Fergie believes there will be more than enough domestic Cup ties to keep the players occupied while they learn their trade at United.
The Scot speaks very highly of Rodwell and believes his potential young centre-back pairing could feature regularly together for both club, and maybe even country, if their progression continues at a steady rate.
However, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also wants Rodwell. And he will be even more determined to get him after Smalling slipped through his grasp.
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