London (dpa)
Liverpool drew with its host Everton, during the Merseyside derby match, which brought them together today, Saturday, in the sixth round of the English Premier League.
The two teams failed to take advantage of all the opportunities they had in front of the two goals to get each point.
Liverpool raised its score to nine points in fifth place, and Everton raised its score to four points in fourteenth place.
This is the third draw for Liverpool in the league this season, compared to winning two games and losing one match. It is also the fourth tie for Everton against losing in two matches, knowing that he has not achieved any victory so far.
The match began with attempts by each team to impose its control, and Liverpool was relatively superior in possession during the first minutes, but it had difficulty penetrating in light of the cohesion and defensive organization of Everton, as well as the control imposed on the attacking trio, Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool continued their pressure, hoping to find their way into the net, while Everton relied on quick counter-attacks and reached the penalty area in the sixth minute, but without a threat to the goal.
A dangerous opportunity was presented to Everton in the eighth minute, when Demarai Gray sent a long ball to Niall Maupai, who directed a cross towards Anthony Gordon in front of the goal, but the latter did not catch the ball.
With the passage of the first 15 minutes, Liverpool intensified its attacking pressure for minutes in search of progress and had a chance in the 19th minute, but it ended with a header from Darwin Nunez next to the post.
In the 23rd minute, Gordon shot a strong surprise, but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson was vigilant and tackled it brilliantly.
Striker Luis Diaz almost advanced to Liverpool in the 27th minute, when he received a free kick and directed it with his foot towards the net, but goalkeeper Jordan Pickford saved it.
Everton had great luck in the 33rd minute, when he saved the post from Tom Davis from inside the penalty area.
In the last minutes of the first half, Liverpool greatly intensified its attacking pressure, hoping to snatch the lead, but luck stubbornly struggled in the 43rd minute.
Darwin Nunez hit a dangerous ball that the goalkeeper saved with his fingertips, and it bounced off the crossbar, and the attack continued for Luis Diaz to hit another ball, but it bounced off the post, ending the first half with a goalless draw.
With the beginning of the second half, Liverpool intensified its offensive attempts in search of a goal, which made the Everton team retreat to its midfield and rely on counter-attacks whenever it has the opportunity.
Over time, the performance of the Liverpool team declined, which allowed Everton to give up his defensive guard a little and switch attacks, but the two teams failed to create any danger on the other’s goal to limit the play to the midfield.
Play remained confined to the midfield area until the 30th minute, to witness a dangerous opportunity for the Liverpool team when Roberto Firmino received the ball inside the penalty area, to hit a powerful ground ball around Jordan Pickford with his fingertips to a corner kick, to play the corner kick into the penalty area, where Firmino met it With a header saved by Pickford.
In the 64th minute, Pickford saved his team from receiving a goal, when a corner kick was played inside the Everton penalty area to reach Virgil van Dijk, who played it wide to Fabinho inside the penalty area, and who hit a strong ground around Pickford for a corner kick that was not used.
Everton almost scored the goal in the 65th minute, when Demarai Gray smashed the ball from the left and entered the penalty area to pass it to Niall Mubay inside the penalty area to face Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who shined and blocked Mubay’s shot.
In the 69th minute, Everton scored the goal in advance when Demarai Gray played a cross from inside the penalty area, Mobay received it and shot it towards the goal, before Conor Coady put it into the goal, but the referee canceled the goal after referring to the VAR technique.
Everton almost scored the goal in the 84th minute, when Dwight McNeil hit a powerful ball from the edge of the penalty area from the left side, which Alison Becker, Liverpool goalkeeper, turned with his fingertips to a corner kick that was not exploited.
Liverpool responded in the 87th minute, when Mohamed Salah passed a cross from the right side, and Firmino met it with a ground shot from the borders of the six-yard area, but Pickford had it on the lookout.
Salah almost scored the goal in the fifth minute of overtime for the match, when he received the ball inside the Everton penalty area from the right survivor, to hit a powerful ground ball with his left foot, but his ball hit the post.
The remaining time of the match passed without anything new, until the referee blew his whistle, announcing the end of the match in a goalless draw.