Liverpool win derby in 100th minute after difficult run
‘Five games in 15 days with mainly the same players’
Arne Slot claimed Liverpool provided the perfect answer to questions over their mentality and character as Virgil van Dijk’s 100th-minute header clinched victory in the first Merseyside derby at Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Liverpool opened up a seven-point gap to sixth-placed Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification with their captain’s dramatic intervention against Everton, who were left to rue another late blow by their local rivals. David Moyes described the outcome as “cruel” and claimed Everton should have had a penalty for a push by Curtis Jones on Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.
After his team’s Champions League exit against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday, however, plus the FA Cup collapse at Manchester City, Slot felt the manner of Liverpool’s victory demonstrated the commitment of his team. The head coach said: “It’s an unbelievable compliment to these players because we have played five games in 15 days with mainly the same players. We had to finish the game without a right-back and started without one – by the way, Curtis did really well – with our third goalkeeper [Freddie Woodman] and a No 9 who has played there in the past but is usually known as a right-winger [Mohamed Salah]. To show what they showed is a big, big compliment to the mentality of this team.”
