Dirk Kuyt scored two penalties at Goodison Park on this day in 2007, the second as the game went into stoppage time, to give Liverpool a 2-1 comeback win over nine-man Everton.
The first dismissals in a Merseyside derby for 83 years in 1979, a Robbie Fowler hat-trick at Leicester in 2001 and the club’s 3,000th win in 2024 all fall on the same date, and Ian Rush turns 65 today.
2007: Kuyt keeps his nerve at Goodison
Rafa Benítez’s side were a goal down at half-time after Sami Hyypiä sliced the ball into his own net. Early in the second half Steven Gerrard raced clear and was brought down in the box by Tony Hibbert, and the referee, Mark Clattenburg, gave a penalty and sent Hibbert off. Kuyt beat Tim Howard from the spot after 54 minutes.
Liverpool missed chances to win it, and after 71 minutes Benítez took off a surprised Gerrard and sent on Lucas Leiva. As the game went into stoppage time, Lucas’s goal-bound shot was palmed off the line by Phil Neville. Neville was sent off as well, and Kuyt scored again from the spot.
Everton were furious. Kuyt had only been booked for a two-footed challenge on Neville, and in the closing seconds Jamie Carragher pulled Joleon Lescott to the ground in the box but no penalty was given. Clattenburg was booed off at the final whistle. The win, in front of 40,049, kept Benítez’s side unbeaten in the league.
2024: Win number 3,000
Chelsea’s visit to Anfield in 2024, in Arne Slot’s first season, brought up a club milestone. The 2-1 win was Liverpool’s 3,000th competitive victory, counting penalty shoot-outs, and Slot’s tenth win in 11 games. Caoimhín Kelleher, in goal for the injured Alisson Becker, made his 50th appearance for the club. Mohamed Salah scored a penalty after 29 minutes when Levi Colwill tripped Curtis Jones.
Nicolas Jackson equalised three minutes after the break, his goal given by VAR after he had been flagged offside, but three minutes later Jones turned in Salah’s cross. It was Ibrahima Konaté’s 100th game for the club, and the win took Liverpool back to the top of the Premier League.
1979: Ten against ten at Anfield
Forty-seven years ago today, in 1979, the derby at Anfield finished 2-2 with ten men on each side. Mick Lyons turned the ball into his own net after eight minutes and Brian Kidd equalised for Everton. Ray Kennedy put Bob Paisley’s side back in front ten minutes into the second half, and Andy King levelled again after 67 minutes.
Three minutes later, Garry Stanley’s tackle on David Johnson started a brawl, and the referee, David Richardson, sent off Stanley and Terry McDermott in front of 52,201. They were the first players dismissed in a Merseyside derby since 1896. “I think it was for dropping our handbags,” McDermott said years later. A female streaker also ran on to the pitch in the second half.
2001: Fowler’s last hat-trick of his first spell
It was 2001, and with Gérard Houllier recovering from emergency heart surgery, his assistant Phil Thompson recalled Robbie Fowler for the trip to Leicester City. Fowler swept in the opener after Ian Walker blocked John Arne Riise’s shot, Hyypiä headed in a Gary McAllister free-kick, and Fowler turned in Danny Murphy’s pass two minutes before half-time.
Dennis Wise headed one back in Dave Bassett’s first home game as Leicester manager, but Fowler completed his hat-trick with a right-foot volley from Vladimir Šmicer’s cross in the last minute, for a 4-1 win at Filbert Street. They were his last goals for Liverpool before he joined Leeds United the following month, and he did not score for the club again until his return in 2006.
1990 and 2019: Two perfect starts end
In 1990 and again in 2019, a perfect Liverpool start to a league season came to an end on this date. Kenny Dalglish’s champions had won their first eight league games when they went to Carrow Road, and Gary Gillespie put them ahead after two minutes. Ruel Fox equalised for Norwich City five minutes later, and it finished 1-1. Liverpool finished second behind Arsenal that season.
Jürgen Klopp’s side had also won their first eight league games when they went to Old Trafford 29 years later. Marcus Rashford put Manchester United ahead after 36 minutes, and Adam Lallana came off the bench to equalise from Andy Robertson’s cross five minutes from time. Klopp’s team went on to win the title, the club’s first for 30 years.
Born on this day in 1961: Ian Rush
Ian Rush, born in St Asaph, turns 65 today. Liverpool signed him from Chester for £300,000 in 1980, and across two spells, either side of a season at Juventus, he scored 346 goals in 660 games, more than anyone else in the club’s history. His 25 goals against Everton are a Merseyside derby record. He won five league titles, three FA Cups, five League Cups and the European Cup in 1984.
1943 and 1984: Two more birthdays
Born in Liverpool on this day in 1943, Chris Lawler, known as the Silent Knight, scored 61 goals in 549 games, a remarkable return for a right-back. He won the league in 1966 and 1973 and is also credited with the 1964 title, a season in which he played six league games. He played in the 1965 FA Cup final win, was an unused substitute when Liverpool won the cup again in 1974, and won the UEFA Cup in 1973.
Florent Sinama-Pongolle, born in 1984 in Saint-Pierre on Réunion, turns 42. Signed from Le Havre, he came off the bench against Olympiacos in December 2004 with Liverpool a goal down at half-time and needing three to go through, and equalised within minutes. Neil Mellor and Steven Gerrard scored the others in a 3-1 win that took Liverpool into the knockout stage on the way to Istanbul.
Also on this day
- 1894: Jimmy Ross scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Stoke at Anfield, Liverpool’s first win in the First Division at the 10th attempt.
- 1906: Sam Raybould scored twice in a 3-1 win at Bury.
- 1923: Jimmy Walsh and Donald McKinlay, once from the penalty spot, scored two each in a 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
- 1928: Dick Edmed scored both goals, but Huddersfield Town won 3-2 at Anfield.
- 1951: Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at Middlesbrough, 75 years ago today. Billy Liddell and Jack Smith pulled two back before Bill Jones equalised.
- 1956: Alan A’Court, Johnny Wheeler, Billy Liddell and Jimmy Melia scored in a 4-3 Second Division win over Fulham at Anfield.
- 1971: Liverpool 0-0 Bayern Munich in the Cup Winners’ Cup second round, first leg. Bayern won the return 3-1.
- 1976: Trabzonspor 1-0 Liverpool in the European Cup second round, first leg, 50 years ago today. Ian Callaghan made his 79th European appearance, passing the record of 77 held by Leeds United’s Norman Hunter. Liverpool won the return 3-0 and went on to lift the trophy in Rome.
- 1984: Graeme Sharp’s goal gave Everton a 1-0 win at Anfield, and it was later named the BBC’s Goal of the Season.
- 1998: Liverpool 0-0 Valencia in the UEFA Cup second round, first leg. Steve McManaman and Patrik Berger scored in a 2-2 draw at the Mestalla a fortnight later, and Liverpool went through on away goals.
- 2009: Yossi Benayoun scored, but Lyon won 2-1 at Anfield in the Champions League group stage, Liverpool’s fourth defeat in a row.
- 2012: Raheem Sterling scored his first goal for Liverpool, the only one of the game against Reading at Anfield.
- 2018: Mohamed Salah scored the only goal at Huddersfield Town.
