And just like that, a 14-year wait comes to an end. 

Everton hadn't won any of their previous 12 home league games against Liverpool ahead of Wednesday evening, yet, in what turned out a special night at the Grand Old Lady, the Blues downed their neighbours 2-0 with goals from Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, subsequently moving eight points clear of the Premier League relegation zone with just four games to play. 

For the clash, Everton made two changes as James Garner and Ben Godfrey returned to the starting XI, with Andre Gomes and Ashley Young dropping to the bench. 

Goal hero Calvert-Lewin also maintained his place spearheading the Everton attack after overcoming the slight knock he sustained against Nottingham Forest.

Having emphatically played their part in Sunday's win, Dyche called for more of the same from Evertonians in attendance at Goodison Park on Wednesday night and again, they delivered, turning Goodison into a cauldron as the players entered the pitch to Z-Cars. 

The Blues fed off that energy and started fast, forging their first chance inside three minutes when a low McNeil cross deflected into the past of Doucoure, however, the midfielder couldn’t wrap his foot around the ball and his resulting strike flew well wide. 

Then just two minutes later Goodison Park exploded. A robust James Tarkowski challenge saw Andy Robertson dispossessed on the halfway line. Jack Harrison curled a superb pass in behind the Liverpool defence that was latched onto by Calvert-Lewin, the Everton attacker rounded Alisson before being brought down for a clear penalty. 

However, referee Andrew Madley reversed his decision after VAR’s intervention which confirmed the Blues’ forward had just strayed offside in the build-up to the incident.

Fresh off the hook, Liverpool broke soon after with Trent Alexander-Arnold finding Mohamed Salah with a deep pass into the box, the winger cut the ball across goal towards Darwin Nunez but a superb sliding tackle from Ben Godfrey denied the Liverpool forward.

The opening exchanges definitely belonged to Everton and their dominance in the opening 20 minutes was highlighted by the fact they’d already hit five shots on the Liverpool goal - and the away side's frustrations were highlighted by their accumulation of seven fouls in the same period. 

Seven minutes later, it was another one of those infringements that proved crucial in opening the scoring for Everton. 

The Blues earned a free-kick midway inside the Liverpool half. The delivery found Branthwaite deep to the left inside the penalty area, he headed back across goal where Liverpool initially cleared the danger, however, Tarkowski was able to keep the attack alive, swinging a looped ball back into the box that found Harrison.

The winger fed the ball to Godfrey who struck a low strike goalward, it took several deflections before finding Branthwaite who drilled it low and hard. Alisson got a touch on the shot but the power was too much for him and the ball trickled across the line to put Everton ahead. 

Another VAR check followed for a possible offside, however, this time the Blues were not to be denied. 

Liverpool’s best chance of the game up until that point came eight minutes later when Salah fed a neat pass into the feet of Nunez who went one-against-one with Pickford inside the penalty area - but England’s No.1 stood tall to deny him with a great save. 

Pickford again was called into action two minutes before the break, denying Luis Diaz after some tidy combination play from Liverpool set the attacker free in Everton’s box. 

Those efforts were evidence of Liverpool’s improvements in the latter stages of the half, yet, Everton managed to keep them at bay going into the break. 

The second half settled into a familiar rhythm of Liverpool enjoying plenty of possession but failing to do anything of note with it. The whole time, the Toffees maintained an ever-present threat on the counter.

That was clear 13 minutes into the second half when Everton broke at speed, leading to a vicious strike from a long distance from McNeil that forced Alisson to push over the bar - and it was from that resulting corner that Everton doubled their advantage. 

McNeil delivered the corner deep to the six-yard box where Calvert-Lewin rose highest to nod home, sending Goodison into ecstasy. 

Amadou Onana was introduced with a little over 15 minutes remaining to add further solidity to the Blues’ defensive efforts, replacing Gana who left the field to a well-deserved standing ovation.

The away side continued to no avail to find a way past Pickford, with Everton's shot-stopper forced into his only save of note in the second half when he tipped over a long-range effort from substitute Harvey Elliot. 

Youssef Chermiti joined the action late on, replacing goalscorer Calvert-Lewin, to help see out what was a fantastic victory. 

by David Hughes