Liverpool have emerged victorious from the 212th Merseyside derby with a 2-0 win over Everton at Goodison Park.
A deflected Javier Mascherano effort and a second half goal from Dirk Kuyt wrapped up the points for Rafael Benitez's side after the Blues' dominance of the game failed to pay dividends with two goals disallowed.
The visitors took the lead on 12 minutes courtesy of a Mascherano pile-driver which took a ricochet of the leg of Joseph Yobo, sending the ball into the far left-hand side of Tim Howard's goal and out of the reach of the Everton keeper.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov wasted two golden opportunities for Everton to level the scoring from close range, the worst being a shot blazed wide just eight yards from goal with only Pepe Reina to beat.
Brazilian striker Jo led the Blues' front line with Louis Saha lacking enough match fitness to start the highly ferocious clash and twice had the ball in the back of Reina's goal but both his efforts were ruled offside by referee Alan Wiley.
Tackles came in from all angles with the game evenly poised as both sides went in at half time. Everton had the lion's share of possession but failed to make it pay against a resilient Liverpool back line.
At the other end, Emiliano Insua failed to extend his side's lead when he saw a close-range header punched away by Howard five minutes from the break.
In the 70th minute the Goodison outfit created their most promising chance but were denied once again.
Tim Cahill saw his shot from a Johnny Heitinga free-kick palmed away by Reina whilst Marouane Fellaini's follow-up effort was again stifled by the Spanish stopper, evoking memories of Jerzy Dudek's dramatic double-save in the 2005 Champions League final against AC Milan.
Despite lacking conviction in front of goal, Liverpool added a second ten minutes from time when Howard failed to hold Albert Riera's shot inside the area, allowing Kuyt to fire home yards from goal.
The Spanish winger almost added a third just two minutes from time but Howard was equal to it.
Both Rafael Benitez and David Moyes had gone into the game under intense pressure from the media and their respective supporters to deliver three points to boost moral and restore bragging rights.
But it was the Kop boss who was all smiles and full of praise for his goalkeeper's cat-like ability in stifling the Blues' attack.
He said: This was a really important victory for us. A derby is always a very difficult game and also very important, so to win today could be a boost for the rest of the season.
"It was clearly a very difficult game. From the beginning they were playing a very direct game and also dangerous from set pieces.
It was very difficult to control and stop them because they are big and good in the air, so I thought we showed character.
"We were trying to play counter-attack and sometimes our possession was good, and other times it wasn't so good. They were on top of us but we showed character, we won and scored two goals, and at the end of the game we had better control.
"It was a great save from Pepe which was crucial for us. He showed that he is a top-class 'keeper and the saves were amazing."
Final score: Everton 0-2 Liverpool
Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Baines, Yobo (Neill), Heitinga, Distin, Bilyaletdinov, Cahill (Yakubu), Pienaar, Fellaini, Jo (Saha). Subs not used: Nash, Coleman, Gosling, Baxter.
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Agger, Aurelio (Riera), Insua, Carragher, Gerrard, Mascherano, Lucas, Kuyt, Ngog (Benayoun). Subs not used: Cavalieri, Kyrgiakos, Skrtel, Aquilani, El Zhar.
STATS:
Shots: Everton 12-8 Liverpool
On Target: Everton 6-5 Liverpool
Fouls: Everton 15-12 Liverpool
Corners: Everton 6-4 Liverpool
Offside: Everton 6-1 Liverpool
Bookings: Everton 1-0 Liverpool
Possession: Everton 45.4%-54.6% Liverpool
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