A chaotic end to Wednesday’s Merseyside derby, featuring a last-gasp goal and a raft of red cards, provided the perfect conclusion to an old-fashioned tussle between Everton and Liverpool, the last at Goodison Park after 131 years.

Everton captain James Tarkowski equalised deep into stoppage time to earn them a 2-2 Premier League draw against Arne Slot’s side.

But it felt like a victory to Everton boss David Moyes and the Toffees faithful, who serenaded their squad long after the final whistle.

“I think the night was made for something to happen,” said Moyes, whose team are unbeaten in their last four league games. “It wasn’t the greatest, it wasn’t the cleanest game of football you’ve ever watched, bit scrappy on both sides. It was a bit of an old-fashioned throwback in some ways.

“Mental probably sums it up. A brilliant finish for us, to finish the last Goodison Merseyside derby and score in the last minute is in a way fitting.”

Everton’s Beto scored the game’s opener in the 11th minute, before Mohamed Salah first set up Alexis Mac Allister’s goal in the 16th minute and then scored his own in the 73rd and the league leaders looked poised for victory.

Tarkowski struck a blistering goal into the corner in the 98th minute, sparking bedlam among players and fans. A melee between Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure and the Reds’ Curtis Jones saw both receive red cards after Jones took umbrage at Doucoure celebrating in front of the Liverpool stands.

Liverpool boss Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff were also shown reds, meaning neither were permitted to speak to TV after the game or attend a post-game press conference.

The stadium exploded after a lengthy VAR check for offside allowed Tarkowski’s goal to stand.

“The bit after the game, it’s not the things you really talk about,” Moyes said. “But the place was boiling hot all night, emotional, incredible atmosphere inside the stadium. The stadium was at fever pitch. You could see what it meant to supporters at the end of the game, the crowd was rocking. It was one of the big nights.”

The final derby before Everton move to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock for next season was due to be played in December but was postponed due to Storm Darragh.

The draw, which featured four goals and four red cards, was a fitting finish with neither side able to claim permanent bragging rights — the tally totalling 41 wins apiece at Goodison for the Merseyside rivals with 38 draws.

“I’ve watched (the goal) about 15 times, I won’t lose the image of me volleying that ball into the roof of the net against Liverpool, for sure,” Tarkowski said. “We are leaving this special stadium so a nice memory for everyone going into the future.”

Liverpool, whose single point on Wednesday put them seven clear of second-placed Arsenal atop the Premier League table, have had the upper hand between the two teams of late.

Toffees fans, though, have a sense of humour about their lack of results. One sign in Wednesday’s crowd read: “At least an empty (trophy) cabinet is easier to move.”

The draw has Everton 10 points clear of the danger zone in 15th.

-Reuters

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Goodison Park, home of Everton since 1892, plays host to the Merseyside derby for the final time on Feb 12 as the Toffees aim to derail Liverpool’s English Premier League title charge.

Everton will move to a new state-of-the-art 53,000-capacity ground on Liverpool’s Bramley Moore Dock next season when they finally leave behind England’s first major football stadium.

The origins of Goodison gave birth to the rivalry between the city’s two clubs.

Everton, formed in 1878, once called Anfield their home before a dispute over rent between their landlord John Houlding and the club’s board. Rather than meet Houlding’s demands, Everton moved to new land just across Stanley Park little more than half a mile away.

Left with a stadium but no team, Houlding, a local businessman and politician, decided to form his own – Liverpool.

Goodison was a ground-breaking development. It twice hosted the FA Cup final in 1894 and 1910 and allowed Everton to become the richest club in England at the time thanks to bumper crowds.

“Behold Goodison Park!” The Out of Doors publication reported in October 1892.

“No single picture could take in the entire scene the ground presents, it is so magnificently large.”

A series of developments ensured it remained among England’s leading stadia for over a century, playing host to more games than anywhere but Wembley during the Three Lions’ World Cup triumph in 1966.

Everton’s golden era arrived in the 1980s, winning two league titles, the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup between 1984 and 1987.

They still sit fifth for most English top-flight titles, behind only Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City. But the last of those came 38 years ago and Everton have not won a trophy since the 1995 FA Cup.

“It’s a place that is steeped in history. You can feel it and that brings that added bit of bite to the atmosphere,” Peter MacFarlane of Everton fan podcast The Blue Room told AFP.

“As an Evertonian there aren’t many people who follow us because they are glory hunters, especially over the past 30 years. We go there because we love the football club and that translates from us into Goodison. It’s not just any game, it means a lot to us, especially the derby!”

The club’s grand old ground has mirrored the decline on the pitch.

At the time of the latest major development, with the opening of the Park End stand in 1994 to bring the capacity to 40,000, it was only surpassed by Old Trafford and Anfield. Now it sits 12th.

But as Everton have battled relegation over the past three seasons, the Goodison atmosphere has been crucial to maintaining a 71-year uninterrupted stay in the top flight.

The return of David Moyes as manager in January has steered the team towards safety once more and hope for a fresh start in a new home.

“We’ll all miss Goodison. It is where my grandad went, my dad went, it is all we know, but it is time to move on,” added MacFarlane. “It doesn’t matter where Everton play, Evertonians will still be there.”

A long and emotional goodbye has only seven games to go.

Putting a spanner in the works of leaders Liverpool’s bid to match United’s record of 20 English titles would be the perfect farewell for long-suffering Toffees fans.

Jarrad Branthwaite, for one, has said that Everton must go into the final Goodison Park derby believing they can win.

“It is the Merseyside derby, another game that we are looking to win, that’s it,” the Toffees’ defender told beIN Sports.

“If you build it up too much then you can fall under pressure, so I think for us as players, we are going into it with the belief that we can get a result like last season (2-0 win).

“The fans they create the atmosphere for us to go out there and do a job. We need to go out and perform.”

-AFP

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Ethan Nwaneri, born of Nigerian parentage, but English in nationality, is not allowed to get ready for matches in Arsenal’s senior dressing room because of safeguarding the rules.

That is the revelation by Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta.  The 17-year-old is in the midst of a stunning breakthrough campaign, slotting into the Gunners’ first team with ease and providing a viable solution to their issues on the right flank. 

According to the UK newspaper, Daily Mail, so far this season, Nwaneri has made his first Premier League, and Champions League starts, and shone in the Carabao Cup while scoring across all three competitions.

Safeguarding rules mean that players must be 18 or older to share a dressing room with the senior squad.

 It means that the starlet must get changed elsewhere before joining his colleagues for the final team talk. 

‘Ethan cannot be in our dressing room still, which is unbelievable. He needs to get dressed somewhere else, even on match day. 

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