Liverpool 1-1 Everton: Jagielka’s screamer ensures Toffees share the spoils at Anfield
Phil Jagielka's stunning late strike cancelled out Steven Gerrard's free-kick to earn Everton a share of the spoils against Liverpool at Anfield.
Gerrard had put the Reds ahead with a wonderfully taken effort to seemingly wrap-up an important three points, but with just moments remaining in the clash Jagielka thumped an unstoppable shot from distance that tore through the Liverpool defence and ended up in the top corner of Simon Mignolet's goal.
Liverpool will rightly feel aggrieved at having thrown the victory away, but their wastefulness in front of goal left the door open for their Merseyside neighbours to get something from this match and they did so in the most incredible fashion.
For large parts of the match Liverpool seemed to be in control and they certainly started the brighter of the two sides, storming out of the traps and immediately bombarding Everton with a flurry of attacks from the first whistle.
That appeared to set the tone for the opening stages, but Everton responded in kind and Romelu Lukaku could have been awarded a penalty as he was muscled off the ball in the Liverpool area, but referee Martin Atkinson waved away his protestations.
Atkinson was forced into action again moments later as Raheem Sterling’s rasping shot appeared to catch the underside of Gareth Barry’s raised arm, but once again the official was having none of it.
From then on Liverpool were very much in the ascendancy, but for all of their possession the Reds couldn’t find a way through Everton’s sturdy defence. The Toffees were happy to play on the counter-attack and they certainly took advantage when they could.
Steven Naismith continued his good start to the season with another strong performance, but it was a familiar story for club-record signing Lukaku, who once again struggled to really impose himself on the game and was kept relatively quiet by Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel.
The tale of the first half was one of wastefulness as both sides continued to squander chances and it continued through into the second period, with Mario Balotelli in particular growing frustrated with his lack of fortune.
The big talking point beforehand had been Daniel Sturridge’s failure to make the matchday squad as he continues to recover from injury and Balotelli’s profligacy in front of goal underlined just how much Sturridge has been missed from Liverpool’s front-line.
Although he lacked any real threat in front of goal, Balotelli proved a handful outside the box and it was the Italian who won the free-kick that subsequently lead to Liverpool’s opener.
Gerrard had come in for some heavy criticism over the past few weeks and while age means he may no longer be at his swashbuckling best, the Liverpool captain proved that he can still inspire his side with a well-placed effort beyond the fingertips of Tim Howard.
That goal seemed to breathe life into Liverpool and they could well have added a second moments later. A fizzing ball from the left was met by Balotelli deep inside the Everton box, but he was denied by a combination of Howard’s shoulder and the crossbar.
It appeared to matter little however, as Liverpool looked to play out the rest of the game, but unfortunately for the red half of the city they couldn’t, as Jagielka stepped up and pinched his side an important point with a stunning drive.