Everton were always facing an uphill battle in the Merseyside Derby, but referee Martin Atkinson never really gave them a fair chance to defeat Liverpool. The Reds will be satisfied with taking three points away from Goodison Park, defeating the Toffees 2-0, but an early red card put the home side at a disadvantage from a very early point in the match.
Jack Rodwell was sent off in the 23rd minute on a challenge that was possibly a foul and never even a yellow card. From that point on, Everton were at a serious disadvantage. They had chances to score in at the end of the first half, with Dirk Kuyt having a penalty saved by Tim Howard and Charlie Adam hitting the crossbar, but the two teams headed into the locker room tied up at 0-0.
In the first 25 minutes of the second half, very little happened. Kenny Dalglish introduced Steven Gerrard and Craig Bellamy into a relatively dull match in the 67th minute, bringing on two players that he probably should have brought in at halftime. At that point, the game changed in Liverpool's favor.
They finally found their opening goal in the 72nd minute, thanks to Andy Carroll. Left back Jose Enrique provided the assist, making a great overlapping run and putting in a low cross towards Carroll. It fell perfectly for the previously invisible big striker, and he scored with his left foot to give his side the lead.
Luis Suarez added a second goal in the 82nd minute, thanks to some awful defending by Everton. Sylvain Distin managed to put a clearance right into the chest of Suarez, who quickly brought the ball down and finished, sealing the deal against an Everton team who looked formidable with ten men for the 50 minutes between Rodwell's sending off and the opening goal.
We'll have live coverage of the Merseyside Derby and all of the rest of this week's Premier League fixtures in our English Premier League Week 7 StoryStream. Check out Everton blog Royal Blue Mersey and Liverpool blog Anfield Asylum for more on the two teams. Head over to SB Nation Soccer for more on the entire world of football.
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