Everton captain James Tarkowski equalised deep into stoppage time to earn them a 2-2 Premier League draw against Liverpool in a storybook finish to a dramatic final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday.
The game ended in an ugly scene, with fighting between both sides, sparked after an Abdoulaye Doucouré interaction with the away crowd. Referee Michael Oliver then handed out four red cards: for Liverpool’s Jones, manager Arne Slot and assistant coach Sipke Hulshoff, as well as another for Everton’s Doucouré.
Liverpool extended their lead atop the league table to seven points over second-placed Arsenal with what had been their game in hand, while Everton climbed to 10 points above the drop zone in 15th.
And after 131 years of Goodison derbies, the draw was a fitting ending with the final tally totalling 41 wins apiece and 38 draws.
Liverpool looked poised for victory until Tarkowski struck in the 98th minute with a blistering shot into the top corner. Bedlam ensued with scores of fans piling onto the pitch, before a lengthy VAR review ruled the goal was onside.
The full-time whistle sparked a scuffle between the players, and both Everton’s Doucouré and the Reds’ Curtis Jones were shown red cards after Jones took umbrage at Doucouré celebrating in front of the Liverpool stands, while Liverpool boss Arne Slot was also shown a red.
“Amazing to score and what an amazing night,” a smiling Tarkowski said. “I just saw the ball going wide and thought ‘Last minute, why not?’ It managed to fall to me and let it rip.
“Listen to that,” he added about the crowd, who serenaded the team with “Forever Everton.” “That’s amazing. They will remember it. I’m just proud of my team, stuck at it.”
Everton’s Beto had the old stadium shaking with his 11th-minute goal, running onto a free kick that Jarrad Branthwaite cleverly slipped into the left side of the box and slotting the ball under the arm of goalkeeper Alisson.
The jubilation lasted all of five minutes as Alexis Mac Allister levelled, timing his run perfectly to meet Mohamed Salah’s cross then finishing with a glancing header to the bottom corner.
Both sides had chances in a chaotic match and the league’s top scorer Salah struck to give Liverpool the lead in the 73rd minute against the run of play with his 22nd goal of the campaign. Everton struggled to clear and Branthwaite headed Curtis Jones’ shot into the path of Salah, who slammed the ball in.
Tarkowski’s winner was a nice change of fortune for the defender after he gave away both goals in their FA Cup loss to Bournemouth on Saturday.
“I had a tough weekend so it’s nice to get one back,” he said.
The final derby before Everton move to their new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock for the start of the 2025-26 season was due to be played in December but was postponed because of Storm Darragh, and its midweek prime-time evening slot on Wednesday made it the final game to be played under the Goodison floodlights.
Both teams squandered several chances in the breathless match, with Liverpool narrowly missing just before halftime when Jordan Pickford saved Dominik Szoboszlai’s low drive and then Tarkowski slid in to stop Luis DÃaz from having a shot from close range.
Everton had a couple of chances early in the second including a sitter that Doucouré headed well wide that had manager David Moyes holding his head in his hands in disbelief.
Branthwaite celebrated what he thought was a goal in the second half, but it was chalked off for offside.
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