Liverpool vs. Everton: Steven Gerrard Hat Trick Clinches Merseyside Derby

Everton manager David Moyes would have looked like a genius if it had worked. But, with a 3-0 defeat (courtesy of Steven Gerrard) in the Merseyside derby, he'll have questions to answer after fielding a side with six changes from the one that beat Tottenham at the weekend.

No Tim Cahill, no Leon Osman, no Phil Neville, no Johnny Heitinga, no Royston Drenthe and no Nikica Jelavic. As it happened, you can add no result to that list.

Dalglish's Side Comes Out Strong

Steven Gerrard announced his intent early when he burst into the area on the end of a Luis Suarez pass and forced a great save from Everton keeper Tim Howard.

A few minutes later, Andy Carroll's flicked header from a punt found the streaking Suarez in behind. If not for Howard's intervention on the resulting shot, Everton could have been down by two within the first quarter hour.

Everton Plays for a Bit

Toffees supporters will really only want to see about 15 minutes of this game. The second quarter hour saw Everton's understrength squad push forward and create some chances.

Marouane Fellaini was particularly strong during the good spell of play for Everton. His ball winning in the midfield created a handful of real opportunities. But, his teammates proved unable to turn the good situations into clear-cut chances on goal.

Unfortunately, Fellaini largely disappeared from the rest of the match. As a result, so did Everton.

Reds Turn the Tables

In the 34th minute, during a period of Everton ascendancy, Liverpool finally settled on the ball before finding right-back Martin Kelly tearing down the right side.

Howard saved Kelly's resulting shot. But when the rebound was weakly cleared to Gerrard's feet, the Liverpool icon calmly chipped a curling shot over the recovering Howard for the opening goal.

Everton Has No Response

Moyes' team never responded following the first goal. Their afternoon was essentially over, especially when it came to accomplishing anything dangerous.

Just minutes after his previous run led to Gerrard's goal, Kelly went rushing down the right again. He received much the same ball, but his shot flew just past the Everton far post.

Despite their firm upper hand, the game got to halftime without Liverpool extending their lead.

Gerrard Gets Greedy

The second half was an exercise in seeing how many times Liverpool could break through the lackluster Everton XI.

It only took them six minutes. Steven Pienaar gave the ball away in midfield. It fell to Jordan Henderson, who launched Liverpool's break.

Suarez provided a diagonal run to the corner, where Henderson found him with the pass. Suarez received on the end line, nutmegged Everton center-back Sylvain Distin and attacked the goal.

Seeing Gerrard bearing down, Suarez left the ball and watched as his captain smashed in his second from point-blank range.

Moyes Makes Changes

With a half hour remaining and no hint of fight from his team, Moyes made wholesale changes. A triple substitution saw Jelavic, Drenthe and Osman come on to try to salvage something from the match.

For a moment, it appeared to work. Just after the swaps, Everton flashed their first bit of danger for the half. They worked the ball neatly around the right side of Liverpool's defense and found Fellaini in behind. He crossed to Jelavic, whose shot skipped just outside the near post.

Fellaini was offside when he received, so it wouldn't have counted. But, the movement briefly showed life. It was a false hope that would quickly be revealed for what it was.

Liverpool Put it to Bed

Regaining their dominance almost immediately, Kenny Dalglish's men came close to blowing the game open in the 70th minute.

A quick counter saw Carroll drop the ball for Suarez, who looked to use his first touch to play Gerrard, who was running free through the middle. The pass was just off, allowing an Everton defender to get a touch in and kill the chance.

Seconds later, Carroll played Suarez down the right side. The Uruguayan looked to the far post and hit a shot with the outside of his foot. But his contact wasn't sound and it trickled wide of goal.

On to added time, and Liverpool was firmly in control of the match. Some Everton players looked to be waiting on the whistle to put them out of their misery. Instead, Steven Gerrard did it himself.

Gerrard caught Everton's Drenthe in possession and pushed forward with the ball at his feet. Gerrard played Suarez in on the left. Suarez cut the ball back and laid it back to Gerrard.

Stevie G finished his hat trick unmarked, 10 yards from goal. Tim Howard never had a chance. Neither did Everton.