Divock Origi’s late goal snatched victory for Liverpool in the 232nd Merseyside derby victory.

Everton had successfully held Jurgen Klopp’s side for the majority of Sunday’s Anfield encounter until a rare blunder in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

Jordan Pickford’s attempt to turn a Virgl van Dijk volley over his crossbar backfired as it kept the ball in-play, allowing Origi to score a vital winner.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Origi’s derby tale comes full-circle

 

Merseyside derbies have both robbed and revived Divock Origi’s Liverpool career.

A sickening challenge by Ramiro Funes Mori in the 2016 encounter effectively killed a momentum-driven start to his Anfield career after barely taking flight.

But the Reds’ fifth-choice striker bounced back with a vengeance with a second-half cameo which may find itself lost in the midst of stoppage-time bedlam.

Fortuitous though the goal have been, Origi had routinely threatened Everton’s back line in the minutes after he had replaced a below-par Roberto Firmino.

His pace caused problems for Marco Silva’s side on the counter attack while a first attempt on target found itself hitting the woodwork from close-range.

It had been 568 days since the Belgium international last found the net for Liverpool. He could not have asked for a better occasion to end the drought.

Blues can take heart from ongoing hoodoo

 

Everton’s wait for a win across Stanley Park will now tick over into a 20th year.

Time will never be a great healer; a defeat at Anfield hurts as much as the last.

There were, however, signs that the times may soon be changing in spite of Jordan Pickford’s fatal attempt to tip the ball over his crossbar backfiring.

Silva’s side offered a greater account of themselves than they had under David Moyes, Roberto Martinez, Ronald Koeman and Sam Allardyce combined.

Each of the Portuguese’s predecessors treated annual trips to Anfield with overt fear and shunned any attempts to exercise a game plan beyond brinkmanship.

Silva’s approach at least gave the visitors a fighting chance and should have yielded an early lead but for a combination of Alisson and Joe Gomez’s heroics.

Slowly but surely, the Everton manager is assembling a side capable of holding its own against the top six. In time, an end to the Anfield hoodoo will follow suit.

Reds’ euphoria transcends boundaries

 

Whoever said derbies only matter to those that grew up around it was wrong.

Take the scenes of unadulterated joy around Anfield that greeted Origi’s winner.

Jurgen Klopp risked potential repercussion to make a 40-yard dart to embrace Alisson while Virgil van Dijk appeared like a man possessed at the final whistle.

In that snapshot alone, all three protagonists revelled as wildly as a bona fide local lad in Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose celebrations often taken centre-stage.

Proof, were it needed, that geography alone does not determine Liverpool’s players living for the moment.

Gomes must be signed at all costs

 

Where Everton would be without Andre Gomes doesn’t even bear thinking about.

All the more reason for the Portuguese playmaker to be signed at all costs when his current loan agreement with Barcelona expires this summer, if not sooner.

Against the Premier League title chasers, Gomes underlined why he deserves to be the Blues’ focal point both now and in the longer term with another solid display.

Liverpool struggled to contain him in the second half, when arguably Silva’s players should have been rewarded with a belated breakthrough goal.

Breaking up play in midfield is another reason why Silva should do everything to ensure his compatriot the focal point of this Everton side for years to come.