Express: Everton 2-2 Liverpool

AUTHOR: PAUL JOYCE

Form may be no great indicator for derby matches, but Luis Suarez still managed to adhere to the prescribed script put forward by both managers on the eve of the city divide.

At the end of a thunderous encounter that stirred the senses just like any other of the previous 218 between these feisty neighbours, the striker found himself cast as both victim and villain.

Suarez was sinned against when what would have been a winning goal was wrongly disallowed for offside in injury time, assistant linesman Simon Bennett's flag hoisted so late that Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard was already celebrating in front of the visiting fans at the other end of the pitch.

It did little to shake Brendan Rodgers' belief that the rub of the green presently eludes his side.

Yet by the dying embers, Suarez had already been cast as sinner.

It was not for the provocative, celebratory dive in front of the Everton dug-out following Liverpool's opening goal which came in mocking response to David Moyes' barbed, pre-match comments about the Uruguayan's penchant for the dark arts.

"I thought that was great," said the Everton manager, who took his own skipper Phil Neville to task at half-time for a dive that earned him a booking.

"I may have done the same to him if we had won 3-2."

Instead, Moyes was angered by the "over the top" tackle on Sylvain Distin in the 71st minute, which earned Suarez a booking when the hordes in a seething Goodison Park demanded a red card. It was not just over Suarez where the arguments of Rodgers and Moyes were polarised .

Rodgers spoke glowingly about his side's character but should be annoyed a two-goal advantage gleaned inside 20 minutes was quickly surrendered, while having clawed their way back into the tussle Moyes might have assumed Everton would go on and secure a first come-from-behind derby success since 1992. Not that Everton initially harboured such ambitions. Referee Andre Marriner deserves credit for allowing play to continue in the build up to the breakthrough.

Seamus Coleman could have been penalised for snapping at Jose Enrique's ankle and Steven Naismith for sniping at Suso, but instead the Liverpool duo constructed a clever move which saw a cross arrowed dangerously across the face of goal. It fell to Suarez at the far post and he rifled a cross-come-shot which struck the inside of Leighton Baines' right leg before rebounding into his own goal.

Suarez immediately set off towards the Everton bench and belly flopped theatrically in front of Moyes, whose post-match humour was probably not a true reflection of how he felt at the time. Point made, Suarez then set about trying to secure three by doubling Liverpool's advantage. With no Everton player near him, he applied the slightest of headed touches to Steven Gerrard's free-kick and what is forgotten amid all the hyperbole that surrounds Suarez is that he now has eight goals in just 11 starts this term.

At that point, it seemed the pressure to perform in the heat of battle was again proving too much for Everton and the timing of their riposte - within two minutes - was crucial to them clambering off the canvas. Baines dropped a corner on top of Brad Jones and instead of punching the ball towards the flank, it squirted off his knuckles to the edge of the area to Leon Osman.

After chesting the ball down, he rifled a low shot through a crowd of players which clipped Joe Allen's calf before nestling in the back of the net.

In an instant, the momentum shifted. Kevin Mirallas took advantage, feeding Marouane Fellaini and watching Naismith turn his low cross home in front of the day-dreaming Jose Enrique to complete the scoring after just 35 minutes.

The failure of the eye-catching Mirallas to reappear after the break, his absence the legacy of a mistimed tackle from who else but Suarez, blunted Everton's intent along with Rodgers' decision to switch formation to three at the back.

The Liverpool manager claimed the introduction of Sebastian Coates and Jonjo Shelvey was in response to Everton's insistence upon "smashing long balls" forward, the sort of comment that will light the blue touch paper today ahead of the resumption in hostilities next May.

Ironic then that it was Gerrard's set-piece from deep which was met by Coates, rising above Phil Jagielka, that Suarez thought he had stabbed home. Not for the first time this season controversy was to stalk Suarez.

Source: Daily Express