Moyes On Late Derby Drama And Ndiaye Injury Update

David Moyes says the efforts and passion of both Everton's players and supporters left him with a sense of pride after James Tarkowski's last-gasp thunderbolt earned the Blues a 2-2 draw in the 245th Merseyside derby.

Beto had given the Toffees an early lead on what was Goodison Park's last-ever derby, before Alexis Mac Allister produced a quick response to level proceedings.

Mohamed Salah's opportunistic strike with 17 minutes remaining looked like it would be enough to secure victory for the visitors, only for Tarkowski to intervene with a sweetly-struck half volley eight minutes into second-half added-time to earn a share of the spoils.

"I think it ranks really high [in terms of my moments at Goodison Park] because of the meaning – what it meant," Moyes told evertontv afterwards. "I think for us to come from behind and get a draw out of the game at that time was a big result for us. The stadium was fantastic. I can remember nights through my career here earlier on where it's been a great place to play – Fiorentina and nights like that. 

"Some of the games here have been incredible but tonight will be right up there with that. I think the supporters did the stadium proud tonight and, in a lot of ways, the team did the supporters proud as well. They never gave up, stuck at it. We lacked a bit of quality at times but we tried to find a way of getting a result out of the game and we got something from it.

"For me, really, it's about getting points to make sure we stay in the Premier League – that's the biggest thing. But getting one tonight, in a game that means so much, I'm really, really pleased with how the players are doing, but we've got so far to improve and big steps that we need to make. 

"But, let's be fair, the players we've got at the moment are really giving everything they've got and I think that's why the crowd are adhering to them because they know that the players are working so hard and doing their best. 

"We've got some limitations but we're doing our best to try to make them not too big an issue."

Everton are now unbeaten in their past four Premier League games under Moyes, a run that has returned three wins and a draw.

Discussing those crucial points, with the Blues now sitting 15th in the Premier League table and 10 points clear of the relegation zone, Moyes continued: "We said beforehand that this [the Merseyside derby] is an incredibly difficult game at the moment – they're running away, unfortunately, with the league at the moment, but we've done our bit today to help ourselves. 

"The team is doing incredibly well – we didn't play so well in the Cup, but I actually think it was fitting for Tarky to get his goal because he didn't have his best game on Saturday but then he's come up with a goal and volleyed it lovely at the end. It was a great moment.

"If you'd have given me that before I came in I would have snapped your hand off. We've just got to try to keep it going, keep building the points and push as high up the league as we possibly can."

One major blemish on an otherwise evening to remember for the Blues was the loss of Iliman Ndiaye, who was visibly upset as he limped off after 25 minutes of Goodison's final Merseyside derby.

Speaking afterwards, Moyes said: "We think he's possibly kicked the ground and maybe jarred his knee or opened his knee up. We don't know how serious it is yet but we'll look tomorrow."

Abdoulaye Doucoure is now also set to serve a suspension after being shown a second yellow card amidst chaotic scenes after the final whistle, a melee that also saw Liverpool substitute Curtis Jones, manager Arne Slot and assistant manager Sipke Hulshoff sent off.