The Liverpool supporters had been singing about winning the Premier League title at Goodison Park. Instead, James Tarkowski produced a goal that will, according to David Moyes, be “remembered in history” to earn a dramatic draw for Everton.
It was the least that Everton deserved, even if the fact that the clock had ticked into the eighth minute of added time made it unpalatable for Arne Slot. In truth, this night never did feel about his Liverpool team. This old stadium can still do strange things to sides.
The topography impacts the senses. Bramley-Moore Dock is not even two miles away but may as well be another world with its wide, open spaces, the Mersey at its back. Goodison, with its terraced houses a whisper away, is claustrophobic in comparison.
It was an evocative atmosphere at Goodison Park for the final Merseyside derby there
Slot and his players felt it. Everyone did. Pitch invasions and flares, red cards and raw emotions, it is all part of it, all part of this fixture here. “It has always been a great ground if you get the crowd behind you,” said Davie Moyes. How Everton will miss the old place.
They will not experience this much longer, of course, the impending move across the city providing the backdrop to this game. The knowledge that Everton and Liverpool will never do this again inside this famous stadium infected the atmosphere all evening.
The serendipity that led us here added to the occasion. This was scheduled to be a lunchtime kick-off but for the cold blast that postponed the original fixture. That was no way for this place to bid farewell to the Merseyside derby. This felt more fitting.
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Tim Sherwood reacts as Everton equalise against Liverpool in the 98th minute
Goodison, quite literally given that it was the country’s first purpose-built football stadium, was made for games like this. From the clanking of the wooden seats to the heads craning around pillars, it has become an anachronism, but still wears it well.
For those in the Lower Bullens, the best clue as to where those Jordan Pickford high balls are going to re-emerge into view comes only from the movements of the players. It is a unique experience but how others would relish such stuff, savour such history.
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James Tarkowski was the hero for Everton as he scored a 98th minute equaliser in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
If the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is a spaceship, Goodison is a cathedral, complete with its own Holy Trinity. And what is a club anyway if not its stadium and the sights, sounds and smells that accompany it. Players change but memories remain.
Neville Southall is no longer between the posts, but that does not stop fans picturing his double save from Peter Beardsley and John Aldridge or imagining a big Scottish striker of yesteryear – take your pick – powering down a header as the crowd rises up behind.
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David Moyes gave his reaction to Everton’s enthralling 2-2 draw with Liverpool
On derby night, there will have been those reminiscing about that 4-4 in 1991. Even the events long before that still resonate. This is where Dixie Dean made it 60 goals in a single season almost a century ago, a venue that played host to 1966 and all that.
As with the Ship of Theseus, logic tells us that turf is long gone but this is still hallowed ground, the spot where supporters gathered themselves in celebration after those escapes against Wimbledon in 1994, Coventry in 1998 and Crystal Palace in 2022.
The supporters just ached for one more such moment.
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Ben Ransom and Adam Bate reflect on a dramatic 2-2 draw in the Merseyside derby
Improbably, it came with one thunderous strike from the right boot of Tarkowski, the kick destined to be replayed a million times, surely career-defining even for one so experienced. “In football, it does not happen that often,” said Moyes. “But it did tonight.”
In its own way, it was more than Everton dared hope.
The old line about Everton never shining so brightly, it is one of football’s pleasant fictions. Supporters return to their home ground hoping for that special moment to add to the folklore but knowing it is unlikely, that those nights do not come easily or often.
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There were chaotic scenes after the final whistle of the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park with four red cards being brandished by referee Michael Oliver.
Certainly not against Liverpool. Last season’s win ended a near 14-year wait for a home win in the fixture, the first since the days of Moyes’ first spell in charge. In the past 30 years, Everton have beaten Liverpool just six times here. Four of them under the Scot.
Beto had them dreaming of a fifth, maybe adding his own mini-chapter to this rivalry, with the coolest of finishes in the hottest of atmospheres. It was clever work from Jarrad Branthwaite too, a reminder that Everton are not all blood and thunder under Moyes.
But Liverpool then did what they tend to do, finding a way to ruin Everton’s night, and the more pessimistic among the home support might have seen that as an appropriate end. Typical. Cue the latest Premier League goal scored in the Merseyside derby.
David Moyes celebrates a special goal for Everton against Liverpool at Goodison Park
Moyes pointed to the way that the fans stayed until the end, still dreaming. Ultimately, they stayed long after that, the stewards ushering supporters to the exits as entire families looked out onto the grass, eager to extract every last detail from a special night.
“The support was unbelievable. I think it was fitting they got the end they did.” There are more than 52,000 reasons why Bramley-Moore Dock is the future, but this was about the present and the past. And the gift of one more memory courtesy of Goodison Park.
