Liverpool win derby thanks to Salah and Gakpo

Jürgen Klopp celebrated the first Premier League victory of the year with the troubled Liverpool FC in the fifth attempt. In the Merseyside derby against Everton, the Reds deservedly won 2-0 (1-0) at home on Anfield Road, moved past Chelsea in the table and are now ninth. Everton remain in a relegation zone in 18th.

Mohamed Salah put the ball ahead in the 36th minute after James Tarkowski hit the post 13 seconds earlier. After the break, World Cup discovery Cody Gakpo increased with his first goal for Liverpool (48th).

For 30 minutes, the derby was primarily a fighting game. Everton, who had won 1-0 against leaders Arsenal on the debut of new coach Sean Dyche a week earlier, missed Tarkowski’s first big chance of the game. Liverpool promptly drove a perfect counterattack, which Salah completed.

Shortly after the break, another fast counter-attack resulted in Dutchman Gakpo’s first goal, who had scored three goals at the World Cup in Qatar. A little later, Diogo Jota made his Liverpool comeback, the Portuguese hadn’t played since October 16 due to a calf injury.