Reina heaps more misery onto luckless Moyes
During his four-and-a-half-years at Anfield, Reina has established himself as a bit of a joker in the dressing room, the goalkeeper who likes to play pranks on his team-mates.
The Spaniard certainly restored a smile to Rafael Benitez's face as Liverpool bounced back from their premature Champions League exit to record their first league win in four games.
The 212th meeting between Liverpool and Everton had been dubbed the 'Miseryside' derby by both sets of supporters following an agonising season for these not-so-friendly neighbours.
Yet while Reina's brilliant second-half double save to deny Tim Cahill and Marouane Fellaini, when the score was 1-0, proved a key factor behind Liverpool's third straight Premier League win at Goodison Park, it deepened the mood of anxiety hanging over Everton.
Had Liverpool conceded at that moment, Everton could well have gone on and won. Instead, Liverpool powered forward and sealed victory through Dirk Kuyt.
A clearly relieved Benitez knew exactly where to direct his praise to. "We have seen that Reina is a top class keeper," he said. "When we signed him we knew that we were getting a very good keeper. For me he is one of the best in the world."
Denied a move to a new ground, Everton could also be denied a place in the Premier League at this rate. A third straight defeat left Moyes's side left them just three points above the relegation zone with tough games against Tottenham and Chelsea on the horizon.
They paid a price for failing to make the most of their chances against a Liverpool side which was there for the taking.The boost Everton had received after learning that Fernando Torres had failed a fitness test before the game was deflated in the 12th minute.
Benitez had demanded an aggressive, high-tempo start from his players and he got one as his side took control inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour, thanks to a huge slice of fortune.
Liverpool have found themselves out of luck on the injury front this term, while they were undone at Sunderland last month by a beach-ball, Darren Bent's effort deceiving Reina after hitting an inflatable object as Benitez's side lost 1-0 on Wearside.
But this time Liverpool capitalised on a stroke of good fortune as Javier Mascherano, with one goal in his previous 71 Premier League outings for the club, attempted to find the target from 25-yards.
The south American is not renowned for his accuracy from distance and his shot appeared to be drifting wide before the deflection off Joseph Yobo's considerable frame left Tim Howard flailing at thin air.
Mascherano celebrated as though he had scored the winning goal for Argentina in the World Cup final, understandable given Liverpool's recent run.
It was just the start that Everton, their confidence fragile following a run of one win in 10 outings, did not want. History was already against Moyes, who had tasted success just twice over Benitez on the Premier League stage in five years.
Yet despite missing key players Phil Jagielka, Phil Neville and Mikel Arteta due to long-term injuries, and Louis Saha, scorer of 10 goals this season, unable to start because he was not fully fit, Everton refused to feel sorry for themselves.
They went on to carve out a string of chances without managing to hurt Liverpool before half-time.
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, playing in his first Merseyside derby, spurned the best chance, the Russian screwing a shot horribly wide from the edge of the six-yard area after the Liverpool defence fell asleep.
Jo, spearheading the attack on his own in place of Saha, twice had the ball in the back of the net but both efforts were ruled out for off side.
Liverpool, again missing the razor sharp reactions of Torres in attack, seemed content to soak up spells of Everton pressure in an error-strewn match which summed up why both teams are not firing on all cylinders.
Yet it required a superb save by Howard to ensure Liverpool did not double their lead in the closing moments of the half.
Johnson was once again as impressive going forward as he was in defence, and it was the England full-back's pin-point cross into the area which allowed Emiliano Insua to power a header towards goal which Howard did well to claw away.
The second half saw Everton continue to press, the impressive Steven Pienaar coming close to embarrassing Reina with a long range effort which the Liverpool keeper failed to hold in the driving rain.
But Reina quickly redeemed himself, his double save leaving Cahill and Fellaini screaming in frustration.
Those howls echoed around Goodison as Liverpool sealed victory in the 79th minute through Kuyt, the Holland international scoring from close range after Howard had pushed an effort by substitute Albert Riera into his path.
REFEREE: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire) 7: This was one of the cleanest Merseyside derbies in recent time. Kept his cards in his pocket until the last five minutes.
MATCH RATING: *** This was certainly no classic but with so much at stake for both clubs, few arrived at Goodison expected a great game. Yet there was still enough incident to debate in the pubs and clubs of Liverpool afterwards.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
