Jurgen Klopp can focus on renovating Mallorca while Mohamed Salah is looking forward to the sandy beaches of Saudi Arabia. Liverpool's title chances ended with a knowing smile after Dominic Calvert-Lewin's header.
It didn't take long for the Goodison Park crowd to get back on their feet. As always at the home of their Merseyside rivals, the name of the game for Liverpool was to win duels, pass the ball quickly and not give away fouls. Manager Klopp did the opposite.
The Reds manager issued a typical warning to his players about Everton's set-pieces before kick-off, choosing Ibrahima Konate over Jarrell Kansah, perhaps to counter the home team's prowess at corners and free-kicks. He said that. These precautionary measures were ineffective.
Regardless of which Everton player was in goal when the ball was put into the box, they won every header.
Now, I know I've basically listed the giants here, but Liverpool have Konate, Van Dijk, Darwin Nunez, and any of the other physically superior players getting closer to the ball. You should be able to block or prevent it.
The delivery from Dwight McNeil was decent but nothing special. It looked like Everton's players wanted more of it, but that doesn't prove the mentality is a monster in a must-win game in the title race.
“Daniel. Calvert. Lewin.'' He will forever be known after Gary Neville's Man of the Match announcement, when the Liverpool midfielder was beaten down by the second ball, and when he missed the ball. Even though he was held by Konate, he consistently outperformed Konate in terms of strength and tactics. Liverpool also gave away a half-hearted free-kick. In many cases, it was a 50-50 decision in Everton's favor.
Curtis Jones was among the Liverpool players to vent his frustration on the pitch after conceding a free-kick for Everton's opener as Klopp bit off the fourth official's ear for a soft foul on the touchline. Ta. But it was all so naive.
Branthwaite scores the first header from a deep pass from McNeil and gets to the ball first again as Everton are recycled, before a pinball in the penalty box ends with an assist from Konate and a goal from Branthwaite, who takes the shot. slipped under Alison.
By that point, Everton had already had their penalty canceled for offside and had missed several great chances from subsequent set-pieces. They dominate Liverpool in every metric apart from possession, and Sean Dyche places little value on holding the ball for the sake of possession.
Neither did Liverpool, who had more than enough chances to win this game and keep their title hopes alive. Barn doors and banjos come to mind.
Mohamed Salah battled through 90 minutes with slices, shanks and miscontrols before Darwin Nunez fired one shot at Jordan Pickford from about six yards out. Pickford looked so small with the goal spread out in front of him and Luis Diaz hit the post. They had some great shots in the second half, but missed easier chances in the first half.
Liverpool probably would have won this game if Diogo Jota hadn't been injured and if Kodi Gakpo's wife hadn't gone into labor.Given the Performance against Fulham (Jota and Gakpo, not Jota and Gakpo's wife) They have definitely scored three goals between them in the last seven Premier League games and look like they are either exhausted or out of form or both. He would have started ahead of Nunez and Salah, who both looked like they were going to start. And in Salah's case, it appears to be halfway to Saudi Arabia.
Liverpool have collected incredible results Lost position this season, 27 pointsAnd for a while, at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, it felt as if the first goal would come before the inevitable second. But Everton got a corner kick, Calvert-Lewin headed it home unopposed, Klopp smiled and that was it.
Harvey Elliott, Wataru Endo, Kancer, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas were the players Klopp could call off the bench to turn the game around. Manager Klopp, who had watched his starting pitchers struggle for an hour and was lacking in substitutes, realized that the game was over. Unless something miraculous happens, so are Liverpool's hopes of winning the title.
This season they have been in the race for so long and have exceeded expectations. We'll put Klopp's full-on Lionization of Liverpool on hold for now, but the work he's done to rebuild the team and make it a challenge is worth noting.
However, it is clear that they are the third best team in the Premier League and will finish in a deserving position. Although Everton will end up in a lower ranking than their soccer ability this season due to point deductions, it is almost certain that they will be a top team next season as well, so how can we (almost) confirm that?