There was a lot of talk before the game whether this fixture might be regaining the 'friendly' tag of old but, if that were the case, then the players surely didn't notice. Both sets were eager to make their physical presence count and, thanks to a weak referee, this resulted in a series of dangerous tackles.

Sotirios Kyrgiakos ended up being sent off for one of these but in truth there could easily have been two or three more sending offs.

Shorn of the Greek defender, who has been such a huge presence in recent weeks, Liverpool might have been expected to struggle but in reality they did not. Apart from the goal there was the bar that Steven Gerrard hit in the first half that can be noted down as a clear cut chance but even posession wise it was Liverpool who held control despite missing a man.

I have to admit that I have a lot of respect for David Moyes - he has built a good team on a very tight budget - but on this occasion his limitations were exposed. With Everton a goal down and a man up, he couldn't come up with a different tactic other than lumping the ball into the box. Their hope seemed to be Liverpool's defence messing up or crumbling under the pressure. To be fair, that has happened on a number of occasions this season but not on this day. So the end result of all that was two real threats on goal (Cahill's header and Yakubu's shot) throughout the ninety minutes.

Good Game
He flapped at one cross but otherwise Pepe Reina was impeccalbe, with that last gasp save on Yakubu proving to be the pick of the bunch. Daniel Agger's return to the side was something of a surprise given that Martin Skrtel had been playing decently well in recent weeks. Still, it was a decision that worked as he effectively took hold of defence.

He started the afternoon at right-back but then Jamie Carragher was forced to go into the centre because of Kyrgiakos' dismissal. Not that he had been troubled too much before but once back into his more natulral position he grew in stature.

Skinned once by Landon Donovan and then surprised by Victor Anichebe's strength: that is what will go on Emiliano Insua's sin card for an afternoon where he was very good once more. The worst seems behind him and, with his confidence picking up, he is looking more like his old self with every game.

The sending off of Kyrgiakos meant that Javier Mascherano had to drop back into the right-back slot where he did a fantastic job. My man of the match.

Scorer of the only goal and a veritable Duracell bunny on the right, Dirk Kuyt exemplified all that was missing from Everton's display: commitment, determination and belief.

Not exceptional but this was still a good display by Steven Gerrard who on occasions was pivotal as Liverpool tried to catch Everton on the backfoot in the second half.

He has his detractors but yet again this was a very positive display by David N'Gog. Ever willing to run, his control of the ball has improved tremendously and gives defenders a constant headache. His biggest fault, ironically, lies in not being able to do the simple things well enough but every mistake he makes seems to fuel his desire to improve. Not to mention that it was a corner that he brought about from which Liverpool scored the winner.

Bad Game
It could be argued that Maroune Fellaini stamped on him with the sole purpose of hurting him, yet the fact remain that it was a bad tackle by Sotirios Kyrgikos which left his teammates with will over a half playing with ten men.

His inclusion was something of a surprise but whatever tactical benefit Benitez wanted to exploit from including Maxi Rodriguez from the start didn't work. Indeed, the Argentine looked lost most of the time.

Substitutes.
At the time, Ryan Babel's instroduction made sense as his added speed could help unsettle Everton's defence. Unfortunately, he showed nothing of the commitment that N'Gog had been before him and ended up wasting what was a wonderful opportunity to re-establish himself inthe team

Martin Skrtel and Fabio Aurelio were last minute additions aimed exclusively at winding down the clock.