Played at Venue: Anfield Date: Saturday, 6 February 2010
Dirk Kuyt's 50th goal for Liverpool settled a feisty Merseyside derby as the ten-man Reds overcame the first-half dismissal of Sotirios Kyrgiakos to record a vital 1-0 win against Everton.
Liverpool v Everton Match Report
The Greece international was sent off 11 minutes before the break after a clash with Marouane Fellaini which resulted in the Belgian being carried off.
But Liverpool refused to buckle and Kuyt struck the decisive blow in the 55th minute when he headed in a Steven Gerrard corner and Everton's misery was complete in stoppage time when Steven Pienaar was sent off for a second yellow card.
Jamie Carragher set the tone in the opening two minutes when he was lucky to escape with just a stern word from referee Martin Atkinson after a late tackle on Pienaar.
Reds centre-back Daniel Agger smashed the first chance over the bar in the 15th minute before Pienaar was first into the book for clattering into Javier Mascherano.
Carragher was then booked for a bad challenge on South Africa international Pienaar before the match finally boiled over ten minutes before the break.
Fellaini and Kyrgiakos flew into a challenge with the Greece international seeing red and Fellaini being carried off after lengthy treatment.
A minute before the break Gerrard smashed a 25-yard free-kick onto the bar before Tim Cahill wasted the chance of the half at the other end.
Landon Donovan's cross was met by Mascherano but his clearance only found Cahill. The Australia international, usually so reliable with his head, nodded over from six yards.
And he was made to pay for that miss soon after the restart. Gerrard's corner found Kuyt in the six-yard box and he had the simple task of heading beyond Tim Howard.
But despite having the extra-man advantage Everton struggled to create any clear-cut chances in the second period.
The best of those came two minutes from time when Yakubu turned on the edge of the box and arrowed a shot towards the top corner but Pepe Reina brilliantly tipped the ball over the bar.
Pienaar was then sent for an early bath deep into stoppage time after jumping into Gerrard to pick up his second yellow card as the Reds held out.
Liverpool v Everton Highlights Video
54:15 GOAL - Dirk Kuyt:Liverpool 1 - 0 Everton
Liverpool take the lead through a KUYT header from a corner.
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce:
"I am not enjoying it. I'm not unduly worried, but I am not enjoying it, that's for sure.
"The one thing I am not going to do is give up on it - I have never given up on anything in my life, so I am not going to start now.
"We have got to make sure we are ready for the challenge ahead. We won't give up on it, that's for sure and we will turn it around."
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez:
"The hardest thing coming away from home is scoring that first goal and once we did that, we coped really well in the first half with Sunderland's threat.
"But the disappointment is that we needed to score that second goal. If you score that second goal, the whole games changes and everything is a little bit easier for you.
"We are getting punished for very, very little and it seems we need a lot to take our chances."
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