Liverpool 1 Everton 0: Diogo Jota scores stunning winner as Beto is made to rue missed chance
ARNE SLOT was hoping to land a Liverpool treble but at least he has avoided a wobble.
Just when it seemed the club’s players had decided to cause panic among their fans with another poor result, Diogo Jota chose a good time to end his 10-game goal drought.
So despite being booted out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain and then beaten by Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, Slot’s men continue their inevitable march to the Premier League title.
As for David Moyes, who had overseen a tremendous nine-game unbeaten run at Everton, it was yet another disappointing night at Anfield where he has now failed to win any of his 22 matches at his least-favourite stadium.
There was some degree of controversy over Liverpool’s winner with Luis Diaz coming from an offside position – with James Tarkowski playing the ball to stop it from getting to the Colombian – before Jota struck only his ninth goal of the season.
Yet equally, Tarkowski was fortunate to be on the pitch as he should have been sent off at the start after a crunching tackle on Alexis Mac Allister.
But on the final whistle, there was relief all round as Liverpool restored the 12-point gap meaning they are sleepwalking to their first title in five years.
At the end, there were smiles, hugs and fist-bumps all around from the players while the supporters sang about winning the league.
Liverpool certainly did not play well last night despite having lots of the ball. The last two performances have whisked us back to the 2022-23 season when they finished fifth.
Because like the loss to Newcastle at Wembley, they were sluggish in midfield, created very little in the final third and their two centre-halves, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, looked as though they have never played with each other.
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Equally, Liverpool continue to miss the right-boot of Trent Alexander-Arnold at full-back although that is something they will have to get used to next season.
Even Mo Salah, who is also out of contact, has suddenly suffered a major dip in form even though he will clean up in the end-of-season awards.
But for Liverpool fans, there really is not much to grumble about. And Slot finished last night’s game in a much calmer mood than after the previous Merseyside derby when he was given a red card and told Michael Oliver that he would be to blame if they did not win the title.
Because of the mayhem at Goodison, it was a surprise that the Premier League chose an inexperienced referee in Sam Barrott who had never taken charge of a top-flight game at Anfield.
And he made the big call not to send off Tarkowski in the 10th minute after he delivered a crunching, studs-up challenge on Mac Allister despite winning the ball.
Paul Tierney on VAR at Stockley Park decided not to upgrade the yellow card to a red and Tarkowski – who scored the 98th minute leveller in the 2-2 draw at Goodison – got lucky.
The next VAR check went in Liverpool’s favour when the decision to rule out a strike by Beto for offside was upheld.
Beto, after shrugging off Van Dijk too easily, threaded a shot through the legs of Caoimhin Kelleher.
And that was certainly a relief for the Irish keeper who replaced No1 Alisson as he was following FA concussions protocols after suffering a head injury while on international duty with Brazil.
Kelleher was then grateful for the woodwork as Beto hammered a shot against the left post after capitalising on more ponderous defending from Van Dijk.
Carlos Alcaraz could have scored with the last touch of the first half – with Liverpool’s defenders again switching off – but the Argentine’s header was poor.
And while Liverpool once again had more of the possession after the break they were faced with a blue wall of players putting their bodies on the line, such as Jarrad Branthwaite who flung his head towards the boot of Salah to divert the ball away from danger.
Yet while they were not at their best, Slot’s team were clearly desperate not to cock this up.
James Garner was dispossessed in a dangerous area by Jota and then received the ball back courtesy of a wonderful flick from Diaz.
Jota jogged past Idrissa Gueye then stuck a shot past Pickford on the penalty spot.
After a VAR check focusing on Diaz, the goal was confirmed and everyone at Anfield breathed a little easier.
Liverpool are now 26 games unbeaten in the Premier League and while winning the treble would be nice, there is only one trophy that all the supporters really crave.
Captain Van Dijk is looking particularly tired, right now, but he should still have enough strength to lift the Premier League trophy in a few weeks.