Everton celebrated their first Liverpool win since 1999 when the ailing Premier League champions suffered a 2-0 defeat in the Merseyside derby while Chelsea’s revival under Thomas Tuchel stalled in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Southampton got.
Richarlison’s early start and Gylfi Sigurdsson’s late penalty gave the Toffees a first win over Liverpool in 24 attempts from 2010.
After 68 unbeaten league games at Anfield, the injured Liverpool have lost their last four games on home turf for the first time since 1923.
“I’m very happy about the club and the fans. I hope they will celebrate tonight,” said Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti.
Liverpool have only won two of their last eleven league games and are in great danger of missing out on Champions League football for the first time since Jürgen Klopp’s first responsible season five years ago.
The Reds are in sixth place and would be five points off the top four if West Ham beat Tottenham on Sunday.
“The first goal that we had to defend better set the direction of the game. It was unnecessary,” said Klopp. “We had to watch the game and we weren’t calm enough.”
The defeat in the 238th Merseyside Derby will last even longer as Everton keeper Jordan Pickford had a bad duel in his encounter earlier this season, which Virgil van Dijk has since sidelined with a serious knee injury.
Without the influential Dutch center-back, Liverpool have had a pathetic time and their defensive mistakes were exposed by Everton in just 145 seconds.
James Rodriguez, who scored a weak header from Ozan Kabak, fell on a pass behind Schalke’s loaned center-back, and Richarlison ran on to fire an angled drive past Alisson Becker.
Liverpool suffered the latest in a series of injuries when captain Jordan Henderson hobbled away with a groin problem.
The hosts put all the pressure on in the second half but were hit by a sucker seven minutes before Dominic Calvert-Lewin fell by Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Sigurdsson took the penalty home to keep Everton tied with local rivals and have one game in hand.
– Hudson-Odoi targeted by Tuchel –
Chelsea stay in fourth place for now as Tuchel has been unbeaten in seven games since joining Frank Lampard last month.
But the German endured some of the same frustrations that Lampard had suffered earlier in the season, when the Blues’ dominance over the ball caused little while a loose moment cost them two points defensively.
Liverpool midfielder Takumi Minamino on loan did his parents’ club a favor by opening the game with a cool finish after taking a 33rd-minute beating Edouard Mendy and Cesar Azpilicueta.
Tuchel sent Callum Hudson-Odoi for the second half but was less than impressed with the England international when he was replaced by Hakim Ziyech just 21 minutes later.
At that point, the crowd was tied when Mason Mount converted from the penalty spot after being knocked down by Danny Ings.
“We brought Callum Hudson-Odoi in, but I was not satisfied with his attitude, energy and counter pressure. I took him off and we demand 100 percent,” said Tuchel.
“I don’t think he’s in the right shape to help us. I wasn’t happy with his body language.”
After losing six straight league games for the first time in their history, even a bad point was a welcome boost for Southampton.
In the end, Fulham closed 1-0 to three survival points thanks to Ademola Lookman’s goal against Sheffield United.
West Brom’s chances of hitting the drop diminish after a 0-0 tie at Burnley.
Despite Semi Ajayi’s red card in the 30th minute for deliberate handball, the Baggies had better chances at Turf Moor, but have only won once in 13 games under Sam Allardyce.