Last Updated on April 20, 2026 9:41 am by ZUWP Automation
Everton 1-2 Liverpool: A last-gasp winner at Hill Dickinson Stadium deepens the Merseyside divide
Everton had done the hard part. They had weathered Liverpool’s first-half pressure, equalised through Beto nine minutes after the restart, and looked capable of holding on for a result that would have been among their finest of the season. Then, with the clock showing 90 minutes, Virgil van Dijk arrived at the back post to head home Dominik Szoboszlai’s delivery and rip the point away from them entirely. It was the kind of moment that defines derbies. Cruel, decisive, and utterly final.
How It Unfolded
Everton began the match in decent form, having gone unbeaten in four of their previous five fixtures, including wins over Chelsea and Burnley. Liverpool, by contrast, arrived carrying the weight of a difficult recent run: three defeats in their last five matches, including back-to-back losses to Paris Saint-Germain in the week prior. There was vulnerability about the visitors that Everton, in front of their own supporters, might reasonably have targeted.
The first meaningful moment of controversy arrived in the 22nd minute, when an Everton player was cautioned for dissent. The yellow card did little to settle the home side’s nerves, and seven minutes later Liverpool took the lead. Mohamed Salah, assisted by Cody Gakpo, struck with his left foot to make it 0-1. It was the kind of finish that rarely surprises anyone who has watched Salah, but its timing mattered: Liverpool had imposed themselves on the match and the goal felt like a fair reflection of the opening half-hour.
Everton pressed for a response before the break, and their number nine was a persistent presence. He would finish the match with four shots, an xG of 0.74, and one big chance missed, suggesting the threat was real even if the execution was imperfect. At half-time, Liverpool led 1-0, but the tie was far from settled.
Beto Levels, Then the Wait Begins
The second half opened with Everton pushing higher, and nine minutes in they were level. Beto converted from a right-foot shot, with the assist credited to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, to make it 1-1. It was a goal that lifted the ground and shifted the match’s momentum decisively back towards the home side.
Liverpool made their first change at the 58-minute mark, and continued to rotate through their bench as the match tightened. Everton made their own adjustments, withdrawing Beto at 73 minutes after he had done his work. The game became fractured, with both sides making multiple substitutions in the final quarter-hour. Liverpool introduced Szoboszlai among their changes, a decision that would prove decisive.
As the match entered its final minute, still level at 1-1, Everton’s goalkeeper received a yellow card for a foul, a moment of frustration that perhaps indicated the pressure Everton were under in those closing moments. From the resulting set piece, Szoboszlai delivered the ball and van Dijk, Liverpool’s captain, met it with a header to make it 1-2. There was no time to respond. The final whistle followed almost immediately.
The Numbers Behind the Match
Liverpool’s 56 per cent possession told one part of the story. Their 84 per cent pass accuracy, compared to Everton’s 76 per cent, underlined a side that controlled the tempo for long stretches. The player most emblematic of that control was Liverpool’s number eight, who completed 54 of 58 passes across the full 100 minutes, a pass accuracy of 94 per cent, and contributed an assist. He also created one big chance, quietly orchestrating from deep without ever drawing attention to himself.
Liverpool’s number 18 was the most dynamic attacking presence on the pitch. He registered five shots, three on target, four chances created, and one assist in 84 minutes, generating an xG of 0.26 from those efforts. His rating of 7.93 made him the standout individual in the match. Van Dijk, meanwhile, contributed the goal that settled it, heading home from an xG of 0.25, a finish that significantly outperformed the chance’s statistical value.
For Everton, the player wearing number 37 was their most combative performer: eight tackles, six won, eight duels won from eleven contested. A rating of 7.33 reflected a genuine effort to win the midfield battle. The home side created three big chances to Liverpool’s two, and missed two of them. That wastefulness, combined with van Dijk’s late intervention, is the simplest summary of why they lost.
Everton’s goalkeeper made three saves across the 90 minutes, two of them inside the box, and was not at fault for either goal. He was simply on the wrong end of a match that turned in the final second.
The Bigger Picture
In three meetings between these sides in recent history, Everton have yet to win: Liverpool hold two victories and one draw from those encounters, with the previous meeting in September 2025 also ending 2-1 to Liverpool. This result continues that pattern, and continues to define the gulf between the clubs at this particular moment.
Liverpool came into this fixture having lost three of their last five, including successive defeats to PSG. A win here, however they secured it, steadies something. For Everton, who had shown enough over recent weeks to suggest they were capable of a positive result, the manner of the defeat is the hardest part to absorb. They were 60 seconds from a share of the spoils. Instead, they go away with nothing. In a derby, the margins are always thin. On this occasion, they were decided by one header, one delivery, and one captain who knew exactly where to be.