THE final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park finished with a dramatic late Everton equaliser and a brawl in front of the away end.
Liverpool had been on the brink of beating the Toffees, only for James Tarkowski’s 98th minute thunderbolt to earn a 2-2 draw.
After the final whistle, a joyous Abdoulaye Doucoure celebrated in front of the Liverpool supporters.
Local lad Curtis Jones immediately took issue with Doucoure’s gesture, racing over to confront the midfielder.
Jones, 24, furiously grabbed Doucoure’s shirt, with Ashley Young and Carlos Alcaraz immediately trying to pull him off their team-mate.
Darwin Nunez and Alexis Mac Allister swiftly ran over to back up their man, attempting to pull Doucoure away.
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Several more players joined the brawl before police officers stepped in to try to calm the confrontation.
As the pair were eventually separated, Reds players including Ibrahima Konate tried desperately to calm Jones down, with the England international still angrily trying to get at Doucoure.
Goalscorer Tarkowski did his best to get his team-mate as far away from the confrontation as possible.
Jones, meanwhile, was pulled away and spoken to by Liverpool first team coach Johnny Heitinga, ironically formerly of Everton.
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Having been booked during the match, Jones was then shown a second yellow card by referee Michael Oliver, meaning that he’ll miss this Sunday’s Anfield clash with Wolves.
Doucoure, 32, was also brandished a second yellow, ruling him out of Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot exchanged words with Oliver as the pair shook hands.
The frustrated Dutchman was subsequently also shown a red card by the referee as was his assistant Sipke Hulshoff.
Everton had gone 1-0 up on 11 minutes courtesy of Beto, only for Mac Allister to equalise barely five minutes later.
Mo Salah restored Liverpool’s lead in the 73rd minute, before Tarkowski’s last-gasp leveller.
The draw sees Liverpool extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points.
Everton, meanwhile, are up to 27 points – level with West Ham and Tottenham.
After the game, frustrated Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk called the encounter Everton’s “cup final”.
‘VERY DISAPPOINTING’
He told TNT Sports: “Intense, it was always going to be intense. A lot of battles.
“Very disappointing to concede in the last second of the game, or even over extra time, but it is what it is. It isn’t easy to accept it, especially in the manner how, but we take it and move on.
“I think the referee had a big part in the game today in terms of certain challenges were given as fouls and similar weren’t.
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“In the end it is just disappointing to concede a very good strike, but a disappointing one.
“This is their cup final and they would try to do everything in their power to make it difficult for us. It is a big boost for them but a blow for us.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
