Liverpool FC Player Ratings vs. Everton: Red Rules the Day in 2-0 Win

Andy Carroll scored his first Premiership goal of the season, and Luis Suárez added another as Liverpool defeated rivals, Everton 2-0 in the 216^th installment of the Merseyside Derby. 

Everton were reduced to 10 men when Jack Rodwell was sent off in the 23^rd minute by referee Martin Atkinson for a challenge on Suárez.  Replays seemed to show that the tackle was fair and that even a foul against Rodwell would have been debatable.

A straight red to the Everton midfielder was not what anyone expected, and certainly not what the fixture needed.  Atkinson however, has a well-deserved reputation for being liberal with his bookings, issuing an average of four yellow cards per game, and one red card every other game. 

Former Liverpool star, Steve McManaman doing commentary for ESPN even called it before the match, saying “I hope he (Atkinson) doesn’t get card-happy.”  His concerns proved prescient, and what began as a lively affair quickly settled into bunkered survival by Everton.

Liverpool controlled possession up to that point, and with a man up, looked to impose their will on the game, but Everton did well to foil the Reds for 70 minutes.  Dirk Kuyt got the nod over Jordan Henderson in the Liverpool lineup, and the difference in activity was apparent.

In the eighth minute he sent in a teasing cross into the box for Suárez who got caught under the ball a bit and could only meekly knock it directly at Everton custodian, Tim Howard.  Earlier José Enrique had sent another dangerous ball into the box for Carroll with the same result.

Tim Cahill brought Pepe Reina to full stretch on a beautiful header on goal.  The Spanish number three was forced to tip over for a corner, the first of a flurry of corners for the home side.

Then came the most momentous decision of the contest, and a clearly, and justifiably unhappy Rodwell was sent to an early shower, forcing the ever-resourceful David Moyes to shuffle his lineup.  Louis Saha was left alone up top as Everton decided to circle the wagons until the half.

The strategy almost failed them nonetheless, as relentless pressure by Liverpool saw Suárez brought down inside the area in the 43^rd minute, by an unwise challenge from Phil Jagielka. 

Dirk Kuyt stepped up to the spot to take the kick, and meekly took aim for inside the right upright.  Howard proved up to the task however, and happily turned the effort aside for a corner. 

A couple minutes later Charlie Adam crashed a thunderous strike just off the underside of the crossbar, and a relieved Everton headed into the locker room looking to regroup.  Liverpool meanwhile, were left to rue yet another dominant display marked by wasted opportunities.

After the interval, Carroll came to life and there seemed to be greater purpose to his movement.  In the 53^rd minute he sent a powerful header on goal, only to see the effort cleared off the line by Saha.

A minute later, another Carroll header was turned aside by Howard, following a nice build up play and a cross from Martin Kelly.  Liverpool were turning the screws, and soon it was Kuyt’s turn to see his effort go just wide from eight yards out.

The stalemate continued until the 67^th minute when Craig Bellamy and Steven Gerrard were sent on for Stewart Downing and Adam, respectively.  Bellamy’s impact was immediate as four minutes after coming on he set up Enrique on the endline to cross the ball in for Carroll’s tally.

Bellamy’s injection of pace seemed to catch the back-pedaling Everton defense by surprise as he occupied their focus while encouraging Enrique on the overlap.  Enrique’s cross was intended for Kuyt, who intelligently dummied for the wide open Carroll to cap the play.

Eleven minutes later Sylvain Distin mis-hit his clearance into the chest of Suárez, and the Uruguayan composedly finished past a sprawling Tim Howard to seal Liverpool’s 86^th top-flight victory over their cross-town rivals.

The game was marred a bit by home fans throwing items onto the field near the end, even appearing to hit Suárez with a coin as he attempted a corner kick.  Such behavior can never be justified, but the frustration and disappointment of the Everton supporters are understandable.

Only 0.6 miles separate the two clubs on the map, but the gulf in achievement could not be any larger.  It has been 24 years since Everton last finished above Liverpool in the table, and the club faces an uncertain financial future, as chronicled by The Guardian’s Louise Taylor.

True fans have to hope that the longest running English derby continues, and for that to happen both clubs must be successful.  The stoicism of Moyes in the face of adversity is admirable, but one has to hope that eventually he will be given the right tools to bring fruit to his efforts.

As always, player ratings are presented by position (back-to-front) below, along the following guidelines:

10: Exceptional— superlative performances only.

9: Excellent— outstanding performance.

8: Impressive— very influential game.

7: Very good— eye-catching game.

6: Average— good game, but nothing overly impressive.

5: Below Average— decent performance, but with some faults.

4: Poor— many faults, performance stands out for all the wrong reasons.

Additionally, any performance which affects the outcome of the game will increase or decrease a player’s rating by half a point (.5)

Reina— had a very good game in goal today.  His eighth minute save on the Cahill header was outstanding and he confidently claimed every other ball sent into his area today.  Grade 7

Martin Kelly— had very little to do today thanks to Everton’s limited offensive opportunities.  He used the relative freedom to get forward in support of the attack, when the opportunity presented itself, albeit without any end product to show for it. Grade 6

Jamie Carragher— continues to improve as the season goes on.  Made several timely interceptions to thwart both Saha and Marouane Fellaini on aerial balls into the box.  The benefit he offers Dalglish is apparent, as he serves as a de facto coach on the field, an important resource to have given the fact that the back four is yet to forge an identity.  Grade 7

Martin Skrtel— once again started at center back in place of the injured Daniel Agger. Had a pretty uneventful game, memorable only for a couple headed clearances here and there.  Grade 6

Enrique—had another solid game today and is easily Liverpool’s best summer signing.  In addition to a stellar defensive shift, he assisted on the goal that finally got Carroll off the mark.  Grade 8

Kuyt— had a very effective game, justifying Dalglish’s decision to start him.  Although he failed to live up to his penchant for scoring in this derby with his dreadful penalty, it is difficult to really penalize him too much. What makes Kuyt an effective player is the sheer relentlessness and quality of his movement and he had key roles in each of Liverpool’s goals, by dummying to set up Carroll, then knocking down a long ball to Suárez, to set up Distin’s mistake.  He very nearly scored a goal of his own when he saw his poke past Howard go off the post in the 90+3 minute.  Grade 8

Lucas Leiva (Henderson 88’) — was booked for the second straight game after a rash tackle on Louis Saha.  To be fair, this followed an unusually bad pass by Kuyt. Otherwise he had a stellar game in the defensive midfield.  Grade 7.5

Adam (Gerrard 67’)— had another one of those games where he seemed to float in and out of the action, and should it continue will prove a worry for Dalglish.  At times he regressed into “Million-dollar Charlie” with his overly ambitious long passes.  Was unlucky to not score when his first half stoppage time laser strike careened off the crossbar.  Grade 6.5

Downing (Bellamy 67’)— had a very quiet game today and one really would be hard pressed to remember a single thing about his contribution, other than to make way for Craig Bellamy.  Grade 6

Carroll— had two early headers cleared off the Everton goal line early in the second half, following an invisible first 45.  He did however continue his tireless play from last weekend and was justly rewarded by the 71^st minute strike.  Unlikely that this will be sufficient to silence his critics, but one can imagine that it gave Fabio Capello in attendance, something to think about ahead of England’s upcoming Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.  Grade 7

Suárez — as goes Suárez, so goes Liverpool and today he was in the center of it all.  There is one aspect of his game that continues to disappoint and that is his penchant for going to the ground too easily and for embellishing contact.  I don’t think it’s racist or xenophobic of me to say that this is a largely South American tactic that has no part in the game and we’d all be better for it if such “gamesmanship” was cut out of the sport.

On the Rodwell challenge, the midfielder’s trailing leg made minimal contact with Suárez's right calf, yet he threw himself to the ground clutching first his shin, then his right instep… neither of which were contacted by Rodwell. It is an unfortunate part of his game that hopefully will be weaned, since he’s such a quality player.  I’d much rather that he becomes the focus of the game for the positives that he brings to the side, rather than court controversy with his play acting.  All that said, he was simply outstanding for the second week in a row.   Grade 8.5

Substitutes

Gerrard— didn’t really have an opportunity to do much after coming on for Adam, but still managed to send in a threatening cross onto the head of Suárez late.  Grade 6

Bellamy— continued with yet another in a growing list of super-sub performances.  His hunger and pace brings a much needed dimension to the Liverpool attack late in games.  Twice he tested the Everton back line today before his run setting up Enrique’s cross to Carroll, a testament to his aggressiveness and tenacity in attack. Grade 7.5

Henderson— didn’t really have an opportunity to feature much in his five-minute cameo. Grade N/A

Not Used: Alexander Doni, John Flanagan, Jay Spearing, Sebastián Coates