MO SALAH produced as he always seems to do at Anfield with the bullet that sent Sean Dyche and his players deep topwards the blues.
The Egyptian superstar marked his 150th home game with a scorcher from the spot and nobody can argue that for all Jurgen Klopp’s £150M summer re-brand he remains the inspiration of the side.
Salah’s second eight minutes into time added on confirmed Liverpool’s 99th Merseyside derby victory.
He has now been involved in 29 goals in his last 24 Premier League clashes and his hit the net a spectacular 18 times in that stunning sequence.
Yet Dyche rightly headed away furious that having seen Ashley Young sent off for a second yellow in the first half Liverpool were not also reduced to ten men a dozen minute before Salah decided this off – colour affair.
For Ibrahima Konate, surely, should have walked.
The central defender was booked soon after the break for whipping Amadou Onana’ legs from under him.
He then blocked the turn of substitute Beto – who had replaced Dominic Calvert-Lewin – but referee Craig Pawson showed leniency when he had not earlier to Young.
Dyche, it was, who got a yellow instead for remonstrating on the touchline, and few could blame him given the parameters set by Pawson.
His opposite number Klopp certainly knew he had dodged a different type of bullet than the one fired by Salah.
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Within seconds Konate had been hooked in favour of Joel Matip – a tacit admission by the Liverpool boss that he knew his side had got lucky.
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To rub salt into Dyche’s wounds the penalty award that saw Salah open the scoring in the 76th minute came as a result of a VAR decision that sub Michael Keane had handled.
The centre back right arm was dangling as Diaz crossed from the left and the ball clearly made contact.
Referee Pawson didn’t look convinced but VAR David Coote told him to an on – field review and the Toffees’ fate was effectively sealed.
Salah finished it off in style, too.
He cleverly kept himself on – side during a late, late counter attack before accepting Darwin Nunez’ pass and sliding the ball beyond Jordan Pickford.
Dyche fumed in his trademark white shirt but Young’s dismissal, the 23rd red card of this derby in the Prem era, really was black and white.
Veteran Young, 38, stormed down the tunnel yelling at Klopp but he only had himself to blame.
He had already been booked 18 minutes in for a cynical clip on Diaz and not long later referee Dawson should also have cautioned him for kicking the ball away.
Young was brought in by Dyche to add his vast experience but he looked like a young buck trying to make a name for himself as he then dived in on the Colombian on the edge of the box.
This 243rd clash between the Stanley Park locals had hardly been much of a passion play up to that point.
But Young’s rush of blood momentarily changed all that.
Beaten on the outside by his opponent the right back clearly caught him in his desperation to prevent a cross.
The fury he then displayed will, deep down, really have been directed at himself. He should have known far better.
Young departure forced Dyche into trying to close up shop in the second half, wingers Jack Harrison and Dwight McNeil sacrificed for Nathan Patterson and Keane.
Yet has the Everton manager sent his players out to dig trenches he will have known that Calvert-Lewin had missed the best chance of the match up to that point.
There were only 55 seconds on the clock when Alexis Mac Allister fluffed a pass on the edge of his box.
McNeil pounced and delivered a delicious cross.
DCL climbed well above a statuesque Virgil van Dijk but headed straight at Allison who would go on to become the first goalkeeper since the legendary Ray Clemence in the Seventies to keep four successive clean sheets in a Mersey derby.
Liverpool have now only lost one of their last 29 meetings against the Toffees but this was not one to brag about.
Dyche’s side went into the game having won three of their last four games in all competitions and while they gave up 73% possession in the first half before Young saw red goalkeeper Pickford had a fairly easy time of it.
He did spill a pile driver from Mac Allister in the 34th minute before gratefully making up for that error but Klopp’s men were mainly reduced to a clutch of showboat strikes.
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Pickford did produce a stunning tip – over to deny another sub in Harvey Elliott as the game moved into overtime.
But for Dyche this was a matter of what might have been had referee Pawson stuck to the letter of the law with Konate just as he had done with Young.
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