The Reds took maximum points against a ten man Everton after they had taken full advantage of what was a poor Red card but you can only play to what the ref gives - something we've found to our cost thus far this season. Once we played our stuff and made a couple of changes the goals came and so did the three points.
The Reds elected to bring in Dirk Kuyt on the right of midfield but there was still no start for Steven Gerrard after his injury.
Everton got the game started and as always it was a fast end to end start to the game with the Reds looking to play the ball down the left at every opportunity whilst Everton were looking to get the ball towards Saha and Cahill and join the play from there.
On eight minutes the Reds had a great chance to score as Kuyt beat Jagielka down the left side and lobbed a cross to Suarez but his header was poor and weakly straight to Howard.
Everton went straight up to the other end and Coleman crossed deep for Cahill and he headed well across Reina but he was at full stretch to tip it over the bar. A great stop and after a couple of corners Everton then saw Distin shoot over the bar.
The game gradually settled down though and in truth it was finely balanced between the sides when it was thrown up in the air by the ref.
Suarez had the ball in midfield and was under pressure and as the ball ran slightly away from him Rodwell flew in and won the ball with his one showing foot. Suarez went down more with the follow through than anything but was hurt by it and needed treatment. The ref had no thoughts other than to show a Red card and I have to say it looked very harsh indeed but at full speed it looked worse I think as if he had taken Suarez with his studs. We've had an awful lot against us this season so we can only accept it.
A few minutes later and a clearly frustrated Cahill Cahill caught the ball before following right through on Adam but it was more a case of over excitement I think and he could easily have just been warned. The home crowd were incensed at the time and they were really getting loud now and angry - plastic bottles and coins a couple of times.
This was when the Reds really had to get the ball down and start playing football through Everton. Keep it in a battle and it would suit them well. In fairness this is exactly what we started to do now and the game started to stay in one half.
Our main problem was creating chances really. We were using the full width of the pitch now and that was nice to see but Howard was as invisible to the Reds forwards as his awful top allows.
The Reds did have the perfect chance to score though as half time closed in. Jagielka went through the back of Suarez on the corner edge of the box and you couldn't argue with the decision that the ref gave a penalty.
I always say you should never miss a penalty but that's what Dirk Kuyt did. Always reliable from the penalty spot Kuyt put the ball very low and very obviously to the keepers left and Howard sprang across to push it behind for a corner. A superb chance spurned.
Everton were getting wound up again now and Hibbert was very lucky not to get booked for me when he took Adam out of the game. The play went on and I think that's what saved Hibbert.
In first half stoppage time the Reds went so very close to scoring as Charlie Adam hit a sweet strike only for it to beat everyone bar the cross bar and it fell to safety.
The Reds were out for the second half and ready well before Everton arrived to defend their draw. The Reds got the game started again attacking the main Everton end and had to get the ball wide if they were going to turn possession in to chances and thus goals.
On forty nine minutes Lucas was booked as although he won the ball a little he did come in from behind and took Saha down.
Everton had re-grouped at half time and they started a little better in the second half pushing forward a bit but it was the Reds who went close through Carroll on fifty two and fifty four minutes but Everton were up for the challenge on both occasions.
Everton made the first switch of the day on fifty eight minutes when Drenthe was sent on to replace Coleman.
The Reds weren't making the most of the extra man - Kelly down the right wing was the best outlet for us with Kuyt always tucking inside up top.
Saha had Reina at full stretch on the hour mark after he was given far too long to turn on the ball in midfield and let fly.
We really needed to settle the game down now and start passing the ball about again. Bellamy and Gerrard were warming up now and a change was certainly called for if we were going to get something from the game.
That's how it turned out in the end as well as Gerrard replaced Adam in midfield and Bellamy replaced Downing down the left wing.
Everton made a change a couple of minutes later as Osman went off to be replaced by Phil Neville.
The Reds finally started to push forward a little and got the crucial first goal on seventy one minutes when we used the full width of the pitch to move forward. Kuyt passed it right across the left wing for Bellamy and as he moved forward Enrique gave a great overlap. He was used and his cross fell to Carroll eight yards out and he swept the ball home. He raced away to celebrate and had a whole host of things thrown at him although they did all miss.
Everton tried to react straight away and Cahill had a shot on target but straight at Reina.
The goal did the perfect thing for us though and that was to open the space up now as Everton had to try and go forward more. They did push on but Rena wasn't being called in to too much action.
We gradually started to get a foot on the ball and use both sides of the pitch to probe for an opening but the game certainly wasn't out of sight.
The second goal was as much about luck as it was about persistence from Suarez. Suarez collected a ball from Kuyt and charged in to the area but Baines got back to tackle him well but as Distin got in his way he was forced to try and clear the ball but just hit it straight in to the chest of Suarez and he then had the simple task of stroking it past Howard.
The game was now over for me and the Suarez song rang out loud and proud now just to really keep the crowd wound up. Suarez is one of those players who works so hard for the cause and he winds a few up on the way because he doesn't give you a second.
The Reds made their final switch with three minutes to go as Henderson replaced Lucas in midfield and the Reds knew the job was done.
Bellamy was now the one having stuff thrown at him as he waited to take a corner kick and you have to wonder what the FA will make of that.
As the ninety minutes approached there were three extra minutes added and that was the time for the ground to really start emptying. Everton were certainly not giving it up and continued to try and push forward now but we did look like we were on control now.
Suarez was the next to get the object throwing treatment and he was actually hit with one coin on the back. There is simply no need for it and had it been one isolated incident by one idiot you simply point it to that one idiot but for this to happen on so many different occasions that's just pathetic. I know losing a derby is very hard to take and you go quiet and decisions go against you as well at times but I never think of lashing stuff at players or officials. Yes I get irate and shout but that's the extent to which a fan can go. Launching things at anyone is simply out of order and I hope they have the book launched at them for that - not thrown obviously.
As the final whistle went it was the three points and a Red celebration. Over the full extent of the game we did play some decent stuff at times not necessarily the greatest stuff. We did manage to create enough clear chances and took them when they came though which made the ultimate difference. You couldn't always tell that there were ten men on the opposition side and that was a problem for us at times but the changes really did help us and we stuck to the task well. The sending off didn't help the home side but then we should never miss a penalty either.
MotM : Luis Suarez - so lively all over the pitch as he always is and he got that deserved bit of luck for his goal because he never gives anything up even after losing the ball.
