Liverpool completed a Merseyside derby double to heap further pressure on Everton.
Frank Lampard’s side began the 240th encounter sitting inside the Premier Leagues relegation zone after Burnley’s win over Wolves earlier on Sunday.
The visitors’ plans also suffered an early setback as Ben Godfrey suffered an injury in the warm-up, forcing Michael Keane to deputise in central defence.
A cagey encounter finally sparked into life shortly after the hour mark when Andy Robertson met Mohamed Salah’s floated cross to break the deadlock.
Divock Origi added a second just five minutes from time by converting Luis Diaz’s tidy overhead kick across the face of goal to beat Jordan Pickford.
Here were the key talking points from Anfield:
Klopp unleashes Blues’ scourge again
Whatever happens at the end of this Premier League season, Everton will doubtless be relieved at finally seeing the back of Divock Origi at Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s decision to introduce the 27-year-old proved to be the turning point of an otherwise evenly-matched 240th Merseyside derby encounter.
Within minutes of coming on, Origi had exchanged passes with Mohamed Salah en route to setting up Andy Robertson finally to break the deadlock.
The Belgium international’s propensity for finding the target against his current neighbours has also become nearly as prolific as Ian Rush’s haul.
Granted, Origi may not have the same gravitas as the Reds record scorer’s 25 goals in 36 derby outings but his own tally of six in 10 is still not a bad return.
His final one bore striking similarities to the last-minute winner plundered here in the 2018 derby, powering a close-range header into The Kop’s net.
Origi is set to leave Anfield this summer as a bona fide cult hero, just don’t expect it to be greeted with any goodwill or mourning across Stanley Park.
Lampard borrows from his grand master
Frank Lampard had no shortage of inspiration from his former mentors in hopes of taking something from a game against Everton’s local rivals.
With memories of last February’s long-awaited victory were still fresh in the mind, the designated blueprint to follow seemed to be an obvious one.
Yet rather than take a leaf out of Carlo Ancelotti’s playbook, Lampard chose instead to borrow from another of his ex-Chelsea managers in Jose Mourinho.
It was an approach he knew well, having been part of the Londoners’ side which frustrated the Anfield crowd and derailed their title procession in 2014.
History almost repeated itself, too, as the Blues dug their heels in at every chance in the first half; disrupting Liverpool’s attempts to build momentum.
Were it not for Klopp’s inspired double change, sending on Origi and Luis Diaz to turn the tide, Lampard would have been making a celebratory post-match call.
The Everton manager might need to harness some of that Mourinho-inspired gamesmanship again to get through some of his side’s trickier run-in fixtures.
Could this be the last time?
Everton’s 80th league derby defeat came with an unwelcome soundtrack.
Taunts of ‘going down’ from The Kop were followed in the closing stages by a gleeful declaration to the away fans that ‘This is your last trip to Anfield’.
Clearly, the prospect of Lampard’s side bowing out of the top flight after 68 unbroken seasons is a very real one given their precarious league positioning.
Burnley’s back-to-back wins have left zero margin for error, with their win against Wolves earlier on Sunday sending Everton into the relegation zone.
But the loss of a fixture which has seen all 206 league meetings played entirely in English football’s top tier should not be a cause for celebration.
The ‘friendly derby’ may have faded into folklore, somewhat understandably given the contrasting fortunes of the two clubs in the past two decades or so.
Still, no one in the city should revel at the idea of this biannual contest also becoming consigned to the history books. Only time will tell whether it is.