Almost predictable pain for Everton in Merseyside derby... but all is not lost

Everton are used to losing Merseyside derbies in painful ways, and this was another to add to the long list.Nearly 100 minutes had elapsed in Sunday’s match — the first between the two sides at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium — when Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk wriggled free to head home in front of the South Stand. It was a crushing late blow that left any lingering hopes of catching their city rivals in tatters. The gap now is eight points with just five games left, when an Everton victory would have cut the deficit to just two.Advertisement