Frank Lampard believes a ‘moment of brilliance’ from Mo Salah made the difference during Everton’s 2-0 Merseyside derby defeat to Premier League challengers Liverpool on Sunday, speaking to The Toffees website.
Back in 2019, after scoring a wonderful curling effort with his unfavoured peg against Watford, Liverpool’s Egyptian superstar admitted to BT Sport that he had been ‘practicing’ to improve his right foot.
An hour into arguably the most important Merseyside derby of the Premier League era, all that practice paid off.
It was Salah’s superb cross – clipped over the tightly-wound Everton defence with his right rather than his lethal left – that served up Andy Robertson’s game-breaking opener on a silver platter.
Rendering all of the visitor’s disciplined defensive work rather moot.
Will Everton survive?
“The gameplan was formed understanding they are one of the best teams in the world,” sighed Lampard after a result that dropped Everton into the relegation zone.
“Could we be disciplined and work hard within that? Yes. Could we break and create chances? Yes.
“They didn’t threaten our goal at all in the first half and we had a couple of opportunities. If we’d scored the first goal, the game would have felt completely different.
“But you know with Liverpool, they can produce a moment of brilliance, like Salah for the first goal.”
In fairness, an Everton side who’s defence this season has often looked about as solid and structured as a house of cards in a hurricane held out for an hour at Anfield.
You could even make a case that the Toffees, a constant threat on the break through the fearless pace of Anthony Gordon, looked the more dangerous side.
But all that really matters, at this stage of the season, is the result. And a late decider from Divock Origi (who else?) means that Liverpool are one step closer to glory, while Everton dreams are haunted by the prospect of a first relegation since 1951.
The biggest Merseyside derby in 30 years?
“I couldn’t have asked for much more from the players,” Lampard adds.
“We are not in a position to go toe-to-toe with Liverpool. We are in a position to be smart and we were smart for 60 minutes. The goal went in and it became very difficult.
“There is no doubting the attitude and the way the lads stuck to their task was really good. The thing we are missing is being clinical with those chances. Both boxes affect the game.”
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