With both camps fuelled on derby day adrenaline, there was a frantic start to the tie at Goodison Park.
Both keepers looked sharp early on. In the 12th minute, the first real chance of the tie fell to Dominic Solanke who was denied by Jordan Pickford at point-blank range. At the other end of the pitch, Loris Karius then pulled a save out of the top drawer when he propelled himself through the air to get crucial fingertips on a curling Yannick Bolasie strike.
Pickford was then immediately called back into action when James Milner disguised a shot as a cross, but the Toffees No. 1 wasn’t fooled and parried the ball to safety.
Lacking the flair of Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino, the travelling fans were forced to witness a goalless, and rather uninspiring first half from their beloved reds.
- More of the same -
The second half instantly brought the first flash of excitement in the form of a fiery face-off between Danny Ings and Seamus Coleman. The two men pressed foreheads and exchanged not-so-pleasantries before referee Michael Oliver urged them to kiss and make up.
A very dull half an hour followed before the Toffees eventually woke up and went in search of the winner. Had Coleman arrived a fraction of a second earlier at the back post to meet Cenk Tosun’s floated header, the homeside might have nicked all three points. Instead, the clock ticked over 90 minutes and the game finished 0-0.
The result will be a lesson learned for Liverpool: Dominating possession is a redundant tactic if you have no end product. The Reds are now unbeaten in their last 17 meetings with their arch-enemies, but they’ll be feeling that it could’ve been a different story had their ‘Egyptian King’ been fit.
No goals, no cards, no fun. A Merseyside derby to forget.