Everton 0-2 Liverpool

Fernando Torres scored twice in quick succession as Liverpool defeated Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park yesterday in a game that the visitors dominated. El Nino could well have gone on to complete his hat-trick, but the referee had already blown the whistle for foul.

Many Liverpool fans — myself included — have been wondering when Robbie Keane will score his first goal for the Reds. Once again he didn't fire in too many shots, but it was good to see him involved in both the goals.

He sent in an excellent cross to Torres in the 59th minute and the latter volleyed the ball straight to the back of the net. Three minutes later Keane sent in a pass into the penalty area to Kuyt but he was tackled by Jagielka and the ball rolled into the path of Torres who had no trouble scoring the second goal.

Soon after that Tim Howard found the ball fly past him into the goal twice more, but both goals were disallowed. The first shot by Dirk Kuyt was rightly denied because the ball had crossed the byline before Riera sent in the cross. Torres' shot that should have been his hat-trick goal was denied by Riley apparently because of Kuyt's foul inside the box, but I don't think that was a foul.

Overall, it was a good performance by Liverpool. They kept the majority of the possessionand created some good chances in the second half. Everton couldn't handle Gerrard and Alonso in the midfield and Riera too continued showing how much of a difference an out-and-out winger could make to the team.

The defence too was solid and Skrtel did a very nice job of keeping Yakubu at bay. With the way Skrtel is playing at the moment, Agger must be wondering how he'll get back into the team. Arbeloa-Carragher-Skrtel-Dossena seems like the ideal back four for Liverpool right now.

Poor refereeing was the only thing that spoiled this game for me. Merseyside derbies have a high incidence of players being sent off. There have been 17 red cards in the last 33 matches between these teams. And Riley with his penchant for booking anyone who breathes too loudly in his presence was the worst choice to officiate this match.

Riley was too enthusiastic about calling fouls and stopped play often enough to frustrate both the teams. Then he wrongly denied Torres his hat-trick. In the 80th minute he sent off Tim Cahill in what I feel was a very harsh decision. The two-footed tackle on Alonso was rash, but I'm not convinced it deserved a direct red card.

(This article was originally published in Musings of a Liverpool Fan. Are you subscribed to Musings of a Liverpool Fan? If not, subscribe.)