There's no doubt that a 2-2 result in the 215th Merseyside Derby was far from an ideal outcome at Anfield, but -- aside from the short burst of Everton dominance to begin the second half -- this was one of matches that should be viewed as more encouraging than disappointing.
Most strikingly, Raul Meireles continued to emerge from his shell and was perhaps the best player on the pitch. He significantly contributed behind Fernando Torres in the center-right of the pitch and strong in combining with Dirk Kuyt, Torres and Martin Kelly in the wide-right areas as well. He was aggressive, creative and was looking to finish.
That ingenuity paid off in full. When Kuyt was twice rejected at the far post by Tim Howard, the ball fell to Meireles at the top of the area, and he brilliantly put the ball into the top corner of the net.
That goal gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead with two-thirds of the first half in the books, but it was far from Liverpool's first chance. Torres had previously hit the woodwork on a counter down the right, and Howard was constantly under fire.
Liverpool's full backs, Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly, very effectively advanced the ball through the wide areas, justifying Kenny Dalglish's decision to play Johnson out of position so that Kelly could be included.
Neither made a significant mistake at the back as well, and Lucas and Jay Spearing -- both of whom were relatively non-existent going forward -- did supply sufficient cover as defensive midfielders.
Everton scored on a set piece and brilliant play by Leon Osman and Jermaine Beckford, two of the Toffees' four shots on target. It'd be difficult to blame such on the defense.
The recently-maligned Martin Skrtel even did well, being involved in the play that led to Kuyt's spot kick on top of his contributions at the back.
When you add it all up, you see a match that Liverpool dominated for at least 70 of the 90 minutes -- even without Steven Gerrard.
Liverpool had 11 shots on target to Everton's four, 10 corners to Everton's six, and five offsides flags to Everton's zero. Those numbers, clearly, indicate the run of play strongly favoring Liverpool -- to the extent that the scoreline has to be considered somewhat unfair.
Liverpool, however, couldn't convert on many of these opportunities, but if Gerrard had been in the side, the story may have been quite different.
Liverpool's 10 corner kicks created little threat on goal, with many of them being mishit at the near post or being taken short. If the captain had been in the side, the delivery, surely, would have been much different.
The same can be said of those five offsides flags -- as it would seem a good bet that on one of those occasions Gerrard would have been able to more perfectly time the through pass.
Given what the Reds were able to do without their captain, it's hard to be anything but optimistic about the squad. When Gerrard does rejoin to the lineup, he'll have an in-form Meireles to partner with.
Before such occurs, however, a Gerrard-less Liverpool will have to slay two of its 2010-11 demons, road matches and Wolves, at Molineux this coming Saturday.
If Meireles can continue to build on his improving performances, that seems a pretty viable proposition.
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