Sam Allardyce claims Everton followed Manchester United’s lead in their Merseyside derby draw with Liverpool.
The Blues snatched a point from their latest Anfield encounter courtesy of a late Wayne Rooney penalty that drew the ire of Reds manager Jurgen Klopp.
Allardyce’s tactical approach across Stanley Park was criticised in some quarters, with Everton finishing the game with only 21 per cent of ball possession.
But the former England boss defended his side’s setup was no different to United, who played out a goalless draw with Liverpool just two months ago.
He said: “Liverpool had scored 12 goals in two games, my position was to frustrate their quality.
“That’s exactly what they did. I make no apologies for that. We had to go with the best way to get something out of it and that was to stop Liverpool scoring.
“Against other teams they’ve scored five or seven. Our determination was outstanding.
“We would have liked to do better on the ball but Liverpool do a high press which is difficult to play out from, we didn’t cope with that as much as I liked.
“Tactically we were sound defensively. We did create as much as I would have liked but Anfield is a difficult place to play. Man United had a similar tactic.
“A team that opens up rarely wins.”