It didn’t take long for the noise to shift away from Liverpool’s dramatic derby win, with David Moyes quick to point towards officiating decisions after the final whistle.
Virgil van Dijk’s 100th-minute header sealed a huge 2-1 victory over Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, but the home manager had a very different focus when speaking post-match.
Speaking via Everton TV after the game, the Toffees boss suggested his side were hard done by when it came to a potential penalty involving Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
He said: “I don’t think we’ve ever had huge decision in these sorts of games,” before expanding on the incident which he felt could’ve changed the outcome.
The Scotsman continued: “I thought there was a really good shout for a penalty kick on Kiernan when he went through, I’m not sure what else he’d be expected to do.
“When he goes through he wouldn’t go down unless he was touched or pushed.”
He then doubled down on that view, adding: “If the touch was too soft then he wouldn’t have gone down, he would’ve stayed on his feet, he’s got a chance of scoring. So, I’m a bit surprised that that wasn’t given.”
From our perspective, it’s not surprising to hear those frustrations after such a late defeat, but it does take attention away from the bigger picture of how the match actually played out.
It’s worth remembering that the contest itself was finely balanced and could’ve gone either way, with a draw probably the fair result before that decisive late moment.
However, what separated us once again was the ability to deliver in the biggest moments, something Everton simply couldn’t match despite the atmosphere they tried to create around the occasion.
Curtis Jones made that point perfectly after the game, stating that they are celebrating being close to us even in one of our worst seasons, which says a lot about the gap that still exists between the two sides.
Interestingly, Moyes had suggested before the game that Liverpool often get the big decisions in these fixtures, making his post-match comments feel like a continuation of that narrative rather than something based purely on this one incident.
In the end, while Everton may point to one moment, we walk away with the points, and in a season where consistency has been an issue, finding a way to win games like this could prove crucial in the race for Champions League football.
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