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Liverpool vs. Everton: Matchday Commentary

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Good morning everybody. It is Saturday morning and if you are reading this then you have woken up very early to catch today's edition of the Merseyside Derby between Liverpool and Everton (7:45am, ESPN2).

U.S. national team stars Tim Howard and Landon Donovan will be looking to help Everton score the rare win at Anfield against a streaking Liverpool squad looking to overcome a rough first half of the season.

I will be providing live commentary on the match (assuming I don't fall back asleep) so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

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FINAL– That's all for me. Thanks for waking up early and following along here. Feel free to share your post-game thoughts below. Also, be sure to look out for today's "Your Running Commentary" post.

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FINAL– Liverpool 1, Everton 0. Liverpool fought through a first-half red card and outworked an Everton side that just never could break through on a 10-man Liverpool.

Not a great day for the Americans. Howard gives up a goal inside his six-yard box and Donovan failed to make the type of impact he's made in previous matches. it wasn't a bad performance, but he struggled in the second half to find the game.

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95th Minute– Peinaar RED CARD!! A second yellow for the South African. He came in with a shoulder on Gerrard. Not a smart decision by him there.

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95th Minute– Liverpool is holding on here. Everton can't find a chance.

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94th Minute– Two minutes left.

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92nd Minute– Anichebe gets in on goal, but he takes a pointless touch instead of ending it into the mixer. Wasted chance there.

Fabio Aurelio comes in for Maxi Rodriguez, who was pretty invisible today.

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91st Minute– Five minutes of stoppage time.

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90th Minute– Reina went down hard, landed flat on his back. He's definitely dazed.

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89th Minute– SAVE REINA. And it's Yakubu of all people with a dangerous shot.

Everton's corner is cleared away.

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88th Minute– Donovan looks to be moved up top, next to Yakubu. Can he get some service?

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87th Minute– Yakubu has looked terrible since coming in. His touch has been horrid and he's not looked dangerous at all.

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86th Minute– Clock is ticking. Can the Toffees create some changes? Donovan hasn't been given much in the way of quality passes his way, but he can turn things with a good cross.

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83rd Minute– Peinaar is down and tempers are up here. Gerrard with an ugly challenge on Peinaar. He gets a yellow for his trouble.

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82nd Minute– Everton corner kick.

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80th Minute– Credit to Liverpool for staying organized defensively. They've done well to thwart all of Everton's challenges.

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78th Minute– I have to say Arteta has been disappointing since coming on. He's been stuck in a deep midfield position and hasn't done much getting forward.

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76th Minute– Everton starting to show some control with the man up, but still haven't tested Reina.

Can Donovan do something in the final 14 minutes? Everton is out of subs so Donovan will be playing 90 today.

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70th Minute– Arteta with a long free kick headed clear with ease.

Donovan is staying on. Looks to be Saha and Osman coming off. Yakubu and Anichebe come on.

Donovan stays on and will be called on to provide some service for the big Nigerians.

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69th Minute– Donovan could be coming off here. He hasn't been very involved lately. His teammates aren't finding him, but he also hasn't done much with the looks he's gotten.

Everton look to be preparing for a double sub.

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66th Minute– Liverpool keeps the pressure on. Everton just haven't been able to make the most of the man advantage. Yakubu looks to be coming in for Everton.

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64th Minute– Nothing comes of the Liverpool corner. Here comes Everton, trying to build something up. Their attack has been non-existent.

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62nd Minute– Liverpool corner.

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61st Minute– Ryan Babel looks to be coming on.

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60th Minute– Liverpool deals with Arteta's corner.

On the goal replay, it sure does look like Kuyt got a push on Howard on the goal. Not sure what ESPN's color guy is talking about claiming that Howard had looked shaky before the goal.

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59th Minute– Donovan earns a corner with a nice run and clever move in the area.

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55th Minute- GOAL LIVERPOOL!!!! Dirk Kuyt with a header right in front of goal, beats Howard to the corner and heads it home. Liverpool 1, Everton 0.

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55th Minute– Liverpool with another corner.

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53rd Minute– Lucas with a clean tackle on Donovan, which starts a Liverpool counter and leads to a corner. Not a good stretch for Donovan the past few minutes.

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52nd Minute– Gerrard with a free kick from distance that Howard catches well.

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50th Minute– Donovan takes one from distance and it's a weak dribbler. Should have passed there.

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48th Minute– You can't really tell Liverpool is a man down. Not yet anyway.

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47th Minute– Liverpool corner. Dealt with.

Feillaini doesn't have a broken leg.

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46th Minute– And we're back.

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HALFTIME– Having been treated to a half-dozen replays of the Fellaini-Kyrgiakos challenge, it's clear that Kyrgiakos deserves a red, but it's also clear that Fellaini follows through with his studs up into Kyrgiakos' leg. That should have been a double red card.

Good first half from Donovan, who has done well with the possession he's gotten. He's passed well and run at people, while also showing a willingness to get into challenges. Luckily for him, the really physical action is taking place on the opposite wing and centrally. Maxi and Insua aren't the most physically aggressive types so Donovan will find the going much smoother on his side.

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HALFTIME– We're scoreless in a tough, testy and entertaining match. Not the most beautiful soccer, but good enough to keep us awake this morning.

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49th Minute– Everton haven't really tested Liverpool with the man advantage.

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49th Minute– "It's not about size. it's about what you do with it."

That's what she said.

Okay, it's early in the morning.

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48th Minute– Cahill JUST WIDE! Oh wait, he was offside anyway. Good ball by Donovan to get that going.

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45th Minute– Four minutes of stoppage time.

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45th Minute– Gerrard OFF THE CROSSBAR. Howard was at full stretch and the free kick hits the frame.

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44th Minute– Mascherano has moved to right back with Kyrgiakos' sending off. The Mascherano-Peinaar match-up will be a fun one to watch.

Cahill whistled for a foul on Gerrard. Free kick for Liverpool straight on goal from 30.

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42nd Minute– Donovan called for a foul for backing into Daniel Agger. Soft call there.

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41st Minute– Arteta comes on for Feillaini. Osman should drop back a bit and Donovan has a skillful midfield partner to help create some more chances.

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39th Minute– Feillaini tried to come back on, but he's too hurt to continue. I won't lie, I thought he was acting the whole time. Apparently he hurt himself when he was breakdancing on Kyrgiakos' leg.

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37th Minute– Feillaini is being treated for an ankle injury and it looks as though Mikel Arteta will come in for him.

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35th Minute– For those who missed it, Kyrgiakos came in with a two-footed challenge on Feillaini, who responded with a two-footed stomp on Kyrgiakos's leg. Feillaini has been carried off.

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34th Minute– Wow, the ref has completely botched it. Kyrgiakos has been sent off but Feillaini hasn't been sent off (at least not yet). Both men should be sent off if anything.

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33rd Minute– Feillaini and Kyrgiakos go in on a challenge. Feillaini should be off.

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32nd Minute– Liverpool gets numbers forward on the break but can't put a shot on frame. Osman with a good challenge late.

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31st Minute– Carragher draws a yellow for a challenge on Peinaar. The ref needs to take control so this one doesn't get out of hand.

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29th Minute– Peinaar gets a yellow card for a hard challenge on Mascherano, who is in serious pain. Rash one there.

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27th Minute– The match started fast, but has gotten more physical lately. How will the teams respond?

Liverpool corner kick.

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25th Minute– Fellaini with a bit of a dirty challenge on Kuyt, no card. Things getting a bit testy.

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23rd Minute– Donovan corner is headed clear and Liverpool eventually gets on a break.

Reina looks a bit shaky early today.

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22nd Minute– Baines with the free kick, forces a save from Reina. Donovan corner coming.

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21st Minute– Donovan draws a free kick from Kuyt. Good opportunity from about 30, straight on goal.

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20th Minute– Donovan gets in on a good challenge with Gerrard. He's playing with confidence and is off to a good start today.

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19th Minute– Game is off to a good pace. No seriously dangerous chances yet, but some good back-and-forth.

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17th Minute– Liverpool corner.

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16th Minute– Donovan delivers a nice springing pass to Cahill on the counter, but Liverpool recovers and fires off its own counter. Things have opened up here.

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15th Minute– Distin heads it clear and Everton has the ball now.

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14th Minute– Liverpool with a corner kick now.

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12th Minute– Good near-post corner is headed back to Donovan, who whips in another ball but Feillaini is whistled for a foul.

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11thMinute– Everton corner, Donovan to take.

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10th Minute– Mascherano came in late with a studs-up challenge on Feillaini and escapes with just a warning. He's lucky.

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8th Minute– No Fernando Torres today, much to the delight of Tim Howard, who has seen the Spaniard beat him several times before (though not last summer at Confederations Cup, right?).

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6th Minute– Donovan is facing the all-Argentine duo of Maxi Rodriguez and Emiliano Insua on the Liverpool left flank today.

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5th Minute– Donovan's getting into some good early challenges. He's ready to contribute defensively today it seems.

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4th Minute– Tim Howard punches away a Gerrard free kick.

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3rd Minute– Gerrard draws a dangerous free kick for Liverpool.

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3rd Minute– Leighton Baines with a few corners that don't lead to chances.

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1st Minute– Donovan's first two touches are good, he earns a corner kick.

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1st Minute– And we're off. Who's got coffee?

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PRE-GAME– This is Landon Donovan's second visit to Anfield. He played as a sub in a UEFA Champions League match for Bayer Leverkusen and enjoyed a good showing. That was a week before his awful match vs. Liverpool in Germany.

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PRE-GAME– Players are walking onto the field at Anfield and it's a beautiful day in Liverpool. Don't you just love HD? Seeing the players breath in the Liverpool chill is pretty impressive.

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PRE-GAME– Not sure about the positions listed by the ESPN broadcast. I'll adjust as the match gets underway.

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PRE-GAME– Here are the lineups:

LIVERPOOL

———————–Ngog——————-

———————Gerrard——————-

Maxi———-Lucas——Mascherano–Kuyt

Insua——-Agger —-Kyrgiakos—-Carragher

——————–Reina———————–

EVERTON

———————Saha————————

Peinar——–Cahill—-Osman———-Donovan

——————Feillaini————————

Baines—-Heitinga—–Distin———Neville

——————–Howard———————-

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Comments

  1. “Either the Everton players didn’t get him the ball or Donovan didn’t make himself available by making runs. I lean more toward Donovan not making himself available.”

    How do you figure that?

    Reply
  2. Game got off to a nasty start about 8 seconds in when Carragher leveled Pienaar with a wicked elbow to the head that went unnoticed by the refereeing crew.

    Liverpool was bigger and tougher and clearly went out to try and intimidate Everton, who responded by taking cheap shots when they could.

    Seemed like Pienaar was targeted all game and got zero protection from the referee (and a questionable sending off to boot).

    As for the controversial red-card/no red-card, FIFA has to figure out some way to prevent the situations where two players come in sliding head-on – it’s a recipe for disaster.

    Reply
  3. Actually, he’s the only one being praised by writers and fans. He’s received the highest ratings of all the Everton players. It’s being pointed out that he was the only one who tried to attack and who had any ideas; praised as their most dangerous player.

    So good for Landon. He deserves that praise.

    Reply
  4. Anichebe took a horrible selfish shot in the 92nd minute…Donovan WIDE OPEN at the 6, and another teamate on the backside. He should hear about that in practice.

    Reply
  5. From the Everton Fansite’s Match Report:

    “At least in the first half, there was one player in Blue who at least seemed prepared to rise above the pitched battle that was going on around him and that was derby debutant, Landon Donovan, and when his smart run after 20 minutes took him to the edge of the “D”, he sold the referee beautifully by artfully going down under Kuyt’s minimal contact and presented Leighton Baines with a chance from a direct free kick”

    Reply
  6. Where is the hull commentary. Altidore is making a nuisance of himself in the Hull game. Altidore comes off with a knock. Hope its not serious.

    Reply
  7. Nah, Tim H was very badly postioned as was Neville and between the 2 of them they let Kuyt get to the ball first. Bad play from them. Do you think pushing and pulling never happens in the 6-yard box and the ref is gonna call every little primadonna thing?

    Reply
  8. Sorry Rob, that situation was as close to 50-50 as it gets. Fellaini was not in possesion at the time of challenge and BOTH players went at each other with studs showing. Two Red Cards.

    Reply
  9. Donovan today was D-up by the Argentinian dual.:) Everytime that LD touched the ball it was a one touch only. Liverpool knew exactly which player was going to make a difference for Everton today. They know who LD is!lol They trapped him every time he touched the ball making sure he wasn’t going to get away. He did break on one occasion and almost delivered the mail.

    Donovan the best player for Everton, plain and simple. Fillanini stays in the game, mayber Everton wins.

    Reply
  10. Although Liverpool went down a man, losing Fellaini who has been Everton’s top player was a decisive blow. Liverpool’s goal was clearly a foul. The official calls that push 99% of the time and had called it earlier against Cahill. The British commentators favored Liverpool unmercifully, and turned a mediocre Liverpool performance into a great saga. The color commentator I listened to required intent to be proved for a whistle to be blown, a nearly impossible standard.

    Reply
  11. As for Donovan…he looked all right I guess. A few nice sequences but overall pretty quiet. In the end I’m kinda glad he stayed out of that mess. No point in getting yourself hurt…

    I will say though…Donovan needs to make more diagonal run and get he self in the passing lanes. I think he spends too much time on the sideline…but then again I don’t know what the manager’s instructions to him are

    Reply
  12. decent performance by landon. I enjoyed seeing him have freedom to roam towards the end, but not too many balls to him. Withough pellini starting up a lot everton’s chances, they seemed like they wanted to loop/chip balls in the box with 8 liverpool jerseys in there? Too bad for the toffes, fun physical game to watch this early. Now its time for altidore to score!

    Reply
  13. If Everton had 4 1/2 chances today, at least LD created 3 of them. He drew the foul in the 1st half that led to the good free kick by…Baines? He pushed the ball past Insua and crossed to the back post. He stayed square and Saha dished to him on the right, the return ball was decent and fell eventually to a slighty offside Cahill.

    So, while the whole Everton side looked disjointed, LD was involved in almost all of their chances….and that’s considering he has to babysit Neville over there.

    Reply
  14. Wow! What a great game. Kuyt is 2 men in one. It didn’t matter that Liver were playing with 10 men,.. Kuyt made it clear he was the 10th & 11th men on the pitch.:)

    Donovan had another great game. A little tired at the end, but was probably the best player for Everton for 75 minutes. He creative all the chances for Everton, but they couldn’t get the ball in the net.

    Is it me, or isn’t that biased broadcaster kept complaning about Donovan’s performance. I was like, are you watching the same damn game Mr.Brit?!! Macherano & Maxi weren’t all that great for 90 minutes and I don’t hear you complaning about those bastards.:)

    Reply
  15. I blame most of the ineffectiveness of Don on the boring one sided defender Neville. Don can’t get the one touch past his mark because Neville will never play offense. I NEVER want to see Don play on the right side with Neville again! C’mon Moyes, pair the Don with Baines and let them light up up the left side!! Or buy a right back who has wheels.

    Reply
  16. To be honest Donovan looked to be the most dangerous player with the ball for Everton today. Everton was horrible overall but certainly you cant put that on Donovan. There were a couple of times when even the announcer mentioned that Donovan had made a run into the box but was not given service. He even specifically said one time that “you couldnt see it on camera but Donovan made a blitzing run past the Liverpool defense but was not spotted by his teammates.”

    Reply
  17. Losing the big guy was a huge loss. since he left, everton couldn’t find the game at all. Arteta moved the ball around OK, he’s better playing closer to goal just behind the striker than he is lying deep in Feillaini’s position.

    Reply
  18. It is sad when the internet streams are so much clearer than FSC…. I thought this FSC HD was supposed to make the regular digital feed better… stupid comcast and their ultra compressed images..

    Reply
  19. Oh no, Hull is playing. I don’t know if I can muster enough will to watch Altidore after that last game, especially against Man City.

    Reply
  20. That was more a stab at the rest of the team. Arteta was doing great things and holding the ball well. But he looked frustrated by the amount of or lack of quality runs he was getting. He easily could have put the team up if Saha or Yakubu had done some better diagonals. Arteta was quality in my opinion, especially a crazy a game like this and to come in off the bench half way into it is no easy task.

    Reply
  21. Hey, Ives,

    On a different topic. I’m sure you and many of your fans will be going to SA 2010.

    Any plans on a meet and greet type of thingy?

    Or shall we just attempt to recognize you underneath the face paint at the games?

    Reply
  22. Given the overall terrible performance of Everton in this game, I don’t think Landon Donovan was that bad, but I think he might get a disproportionate share of the blame. Especially if Mr. McDick announcer has any say.

    Reply
  23. ??

    donovan did as good as expected

    the ball was not played on that side of the field very often, but he earned a host of great free kicks, a yellow card, and he made some real dangerous runs

    this referee is a disgrace

    Reply

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