On an extraordinary night of emotion, this was never going to be an ordinary derby day as Goodison closed its doors on the Merseyside Derby against their rivals forever.

Everton lined up as below, with Vitalii Mykolenko thankfully passed fit to return and try to continue his good form against Mo Salah. In spite of impressive cameos off the bench at the weekend, neither Carlos Alcaraz nor Jack Harrison could get places in the starting side:

In an electric atmosphere, both teams tried to play at the usual Derby pace of 110 mph until the game began to settle and it settled just fine for those of a Blue persuasion in the 12th minute.

Iliman Ndiaye was tackled, though to be fair it was not a clear cut free kick. The Blues did not let that small matter worry them in the slightest. With all the players jostling for position deep in the box, Branthwaite played in Beto who timed his run to absolute perfection to beat the offside line and slot home confidently. At first glance, I must admit, I was waiting for the flag to be raised or a VAR debate but, to be fair to Beto, his run (and finish) was perfect, 1-0 to the Toffees.

Sadly, the lead lasted just four minutes. Without wishing to be uncharitable or disloyal to Beto, if the fact that he scored was a surprise, it paled by comparison to the Reds equaliser. Firstly, Doucoure lost possession cheaply in midfield and we saw the diminutive MacAllister rise highest to Salah’s cross ahead of Tarkowski. There was an element of misjudgement by Pickford who seemed to think the header was drifting wide of his far post but it crept in nonetheless. Level pegging at 1-1.

To concede a soft goal was disappointing but nothing compared to what many, myself included, saw as a game-changing moment just six minutes later. Ndiaye, in trying to play ball across the field as he was challenged, only succeeded in kicking the turf forcefully and the pain in his knee was obvious.

The tearful Goodison talisman and leading Blues goalscorer was escorted from the pitch by his friend and international team-mate Idrissa Gueye with Jack Harrison being his direct replacement on the left flank. Ndiaye looked distraught and fans will be hoping it is not as bad as it looked.

Typical Derby game tackles and drama followed in the first half as a plethora of yellow cards were brandished by referee Michael Oliver. Of the dozens of derbies I have seen I have often agreed with the notion that the best ones are when the fewest cards were shown but Oliver was having none of it!

The half ended with Liverpool having had 74% possession (congratulations Reds) but only three shots on target between the two sides with a goal apiece. The half also saw a late and significant booking for Doucoure in the closing seconds as he was within tackling distance of Bradley but failed to make any contact. Presumably the offence was wearing a #16 shirt in Blue?

Within 10 minutes of the restart, Doucoure put an awful header from 10 yards well wide after good work by Lindstrom. After an unsuccessful penalty appeal by the Blues as a ball bounced into the allegedly naturally-placed forearm of Konate, the Blues did actually put the ball in the Gwladys Street net. It was Branthwaite who thought he had yet another Derby goal but it was correctly ruled out for O’Brien having been offside in the build-up.

In the 71st minute with relentless Blues pressure, Tarkowski nicely teed up Doucoure who ballooned his shot high and wide unfortunately. That miss was really costly as two minutes later, Salah, who had been kept relatively quiet, scored when the Blues failed to clear, 1-2.

To preserve chances of a Blues equaliser, Pickford made a smart save from Salah with two minutes of normal time remaining. That save was to prove telling as with just seconds remaining, “The Old Lady” had the last word in the 97th minute, on the last night the storied stadium will have her lights on.

I remember Howard Kendall in 1985 saying he had thought that the Gwladys Street end had “sucked the ball into the net” in a momentous night of European football against Bayern Munich.

Well, in this instance 40 years later, you would have needed a gale force wind to keep out Tarkowski’s stunning right-footed volley. There were a few nervous moments as the VAR panel scratched their heads to see how they could rule it out but they gave up and Goodison erupted, 2-2.

Some red cards were shown, Doucoure for daring to celebrate at Goodison Park, his home. Curtis Jones and the pair of Reds’ manager Arne Slot and assistant manager Sipke Hulshoff were also sent off with former Blue Johnny Heitinga wisely staying out of the fray. Those cards were neither here nor there. If Tarkowski put the gloss on a stirring night, no controversial cards were ever going to take it away.

Arne Slot’s reaction to Everton’s 98th minute equaliser Jordan Pickford’s knee slide in the background

That ending was ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/T4EqIiAtRA

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 12, 2025

The last word was from the Goodison Old Lady, a fitting ending to a marvellous historic fixture and a goal worthy of any of them. Well done Toffees!