Embed from Getty Images

Liverpool edged out Everton’s in the 246th Merseyside derby.

Diogo Jota settled matters shortly before the hour mark by sidestepping James Tarkowski and firing low past Jordan Pickford in front of The Kop.

The Reds have now consolidated their 12-point lead in the Premier League title race while David Moyes’ side lost their nine-game unbeaten run.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Arne Slot call proves genius as Diogo Jota sends Liverpool message - 5 talking points vs Everton	Liverpool grind out Everton derby win as VAR takes centre stage - 5 talking points	Liverpool 1-0 Everton: Match report and 3 talking points from hard-fought Merseyside derby

March’s international break arrived at a tricky moment for Liverpool.

Five days apart, Arne Slot’s previously unstoppable side had exited the Champions League and seen their Carabao Cup defence ended in the final.

Those defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle fuelled talk that the wheels were starting to come off as they approached the season’s run-in.

A rematch with Everton fresh from club football’s hiatus would offer a reliable indicator of just how credible rumours of the Reds’ potential demise were.

Greatly exaggerated, as it turned out.

The Premier League leaders have rarely found themselves questioned until recently yet they responded to those doubts against their robust neighbours..

Whether it was Diogo Jota’s first goal in 10 games or Curtis Jones ably filling the right-back void at five days’ notice, the hosts firmly silenced their critics.

The only noise swirling around Anfield are of their impending coronation.

Once they seal the final 13 points to clinch it, it will be even more deafening.

There is a certain irony that Everton’s final trip across Stanley Park before the move to pastures new illustrated the current margins to their neighbours.

David Moyes believes the gulf his charges have to bridge is equidistant to that which separates Anfield from their soon-to-be home at Bramley-Moore Dock.

While their respective league positions and point tallies bear out his assertion, the current evidence suggests the Blues are not actually that far off the pace.

Matching the future champions of England pound for pound, twice in 49 days is no mean feat especially when they had lost once in the league all season.

Yet Everton’s disparity is not in head-to-head contests but technical quality.

Beto spurned a gilt-edged chance after captailising on a rare Virgil van Dijk misstep by firing his effort against the lefthand post in a one-v-one situation.

The striker, however, was not alone in coming up short as Jack Harrison, in for an injured Jesper Lindstrom, was among those also flattering to deceive.

Moyes’ attempts to stem the second-half tide saw him turn to several players only just returning from injury including Iliman Ndiaye and Armando Broja.

The Everton manager has instilled a strong identity in such a short space of time but closing the gap on calibre is what sets him apart from Slot’s men.

Merseyside derbies are renowned for their passion but also controversy.

After a fiery ending to the last-ever Goodison Park clash, there was a strong possibility this meeting would also hit the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Fittingly it was James Tarkowski, the man who lit the blue touch paper back in February, who remained a key protagonist during Wednesday’s encounter.

The Everton defender earned an early booking after flying full force into a 50/50 challenge with Alexis Mac Allister, taking both the ball and the man.

His dangerous follow through only earned a yellow card despite being sent to VAR but that 11th-minute flashpoint would only be the start of his problems.

Tarkowski was involved in another contentious decision, albeit this time as the wronged party, as Luis Diaz teed up Jota’s decisive strike in front of The Kop.

Despite being offside when the centre-back intercepted Ryan Gravenberch’s pass in the build-up, he was deemed not to have attempted to reach the ball.

Both decisions were checked by VAR and followed football’s letter of the law but they will still go down in derby folklore as two heavily disputed calls.


For more news relating to Newcastle United, visit our sister site NUFC Latest Live.