Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo scored his first goal for the club as they ended a disappointing run in the Premier League by beating city rivals Everton 2-0 at Anfield on Monday.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring in the 36th minute, linking up with Darwin Nunez on the counter-attack after Everton missed a wonderful double chance to take the lead, with Dwight McNeill going close and James Tarkowski hitting the post.
Netherlands forward Gakpo scored his first goal in his seventh match for Liverpool after joining from PSV Eindhoven for a reported £37 million ($44.91 million) early in the second half of the usually fast-paced Merseyside derby. Just made an edge.
Liverpool has conceded nine goals in three of their last four league games and started the season scoring one loss, while Everton hopes to turn a corner under new manager Sean Deitch after a shock wins over leaders Arsenal last time around. Was doing.
But Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool was stronger and quicker than their neighbors and grabbed their first league win of 2023 to move up to ninth in the table with 32 points after 21 matches.
Everton was left in the relegation zone with 18 points from 22 matches, one point off the safety zone.
“It’s a huge win for us,” Salah said. “We’ve had a perfect week in training and the players are very excited we can’t wait for the game to turn everything around and hopefully this was a start.
“I know Darwin is really quick so he had a corner and we played a one-two. I knew he was going to play the ball into space so I ran as fast as I could and scored That’s why it’s the most important thing.”
Having missed out on the league title to Manchester City on the final day of last season, Liverpool may have had a difficult season by their own high standards, but they still have a glimmer of hope to qualify for the Champions League.
“I’m happy with the performance, it was important that we played the game we wanted to play tonight and not the game Everton wanted to play.”, said Klopp.
“We were super dominant, changed sides, played the ball, ran them, but both goals came from the counter-attack. So, that’s allowed too, obviously.”
Liverpool is nine points clear of Newcastle United in fourth and has a game in hand on Eddie Howe’s side, while Gakpo’s confidence should be boosted after getting his first goal.
Salah, who was the joint top scorer in the Premier League last season, will also be relieved to have got his first league goal after netting against Leicester City on 26 December.
Klopp was boosted by the return of striker Diogo Jota, who made his first appearance since injuring his calf in October, coming on in the 70th minute.
Meanwhile, impressive defender Virgil van Dijk was on the bench after injuring his hamstring in early January.
Liverpool’s struggles this season pale in comparison to Everton, who last month sacked Frank Lampard, the seventh manager to be fired by owner Farhad Moshiri since 2017.
Everton defender Conor Coady said, “We gave two goals on the counter and it’s very disappointing.”
“It’s important that we keep listening to the manager each day and we need to get going again. It’s not the fact that we missed chances, we hit the post, but giving counters that they are good, we need to look at ourselves. And see where we can fix it.”