LONDON: A VAR ruling in the eighth minute of stoppage time cleared a last-gasp equaliser from James Tarkowski as Everton rescued a 2-2 draw to deny Liverpool in the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

Chaotic scenes in the technical areas, the crowd and among the players drowned out referee Michael Oliver’s final whistle. Liverpool were furious at the allowance of more than eight minutes’ stoppage time and, amid the confusion, manager Arne Slot was shown a red card for a comment to the referee who showed another two to Abdoulaye Doucoure and Curtis Jones.

Everton had won the first Goodison derby in 1894 so the totally of 120 duels left both clubs with 41 wins, Liverpool claimed 149 goals and Everton 143.

The layers of emotion which always surround the duel were ramped up even further than usual by the certainty that this 120th derby was the last at Goodison ahead of Everton’s summer move to their new home at Bramley-Moore to the northwest of the city alongside the Mersey.

Originally the match had been scheduled for December but was postponed on safety grounds because of bad weather. Since then Liverpool had maintained their lead at the top of the table while Everton had gained a new owner in The Friedkin Group as well as a new/old manager in David Moyes.

Everton went ahead in the 11th minute through Beto with Liverpool levelling five minutes later through Alex Mac Allister. Sloppy Everton defending gifted Mo Salah a 73rd-minute goal and Liverpool were poised to stretch their league lead to nine points when captain James Tarkowski struck his equaliser.

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