Suarez provokes and inspires

Everton 2 Liverpool 2

Reviled and adored in equal measure, Suarez demonstrated his sense of humour, could have been sent off and was then denied a legitimate winner at Goodison Park.

Given the litany of incidents that have marked his stint on Merseyside, it is sometimes easy to forget that the striker has been in the country for less than two years.

Some wonder about the personality-drive nature of the media but even the most old-school supporter can not argue against the importance of Suarez and almost everything he does.

Take away all of the other stuff and Suarez showed what all the fuss is about. He was outstanding.

His thumping drive flew in off Leighton Baines and he celebrated by taking a huge dive in front of David Moyes, who had criticised his antics in the build-up to the match at Goodison Park.

Then came a neat header to double the advantage, followed by two ugly challenges — one on Kevin Mirallas that led to the Belgian being taken off at the interval and another on Sylvain Distin that Moyes felt should have earned a red card.

There was still more, when Suarez got his foot on the end of Sebastian Coates’s knockdown to turn the ball into the net in the fourth minute of added time the wild celebrations were only cut short when Everton took a quick free-kick for a mystifying offside decision and looked set to break quickly down the left flank.

Another facet of the modern game is that stand-points on Suarez, whether he is a racist or not, whether he should be drummed out of the country or lauded, rarely deviate away from club lines. Few neutrals have any time for him whatsoever, while Liverpool supporters see little bad in him. The latest debate only adds to the aftermath of what was, for once, a pulsating match between these two teams.

It is still hard to know what to make of this Liverpool side and while Raheem Sterling and Joe Allen showed they can make a difference on this stage, the likes of Suso and Nuri Sahin wilted, while Andre Wisdom struggled to deal with the quality of Mirallas.

Liverpool are slowly emerging under Brendan Rodgers and they demonstrated plenty of effective purpose in the opening quarter.

The move for the first goal was just splendid with a decent spell of possession ending with Jose Enrique cross and Baines barging Sterling but turning Suarez’s powerful cross-shot in at the near post after 13 minutes.

Seven minutes later, Steven Gerrard clipped in a free-kick and Suarez peeled away from two Everton defenders to glance in.

Less than two minutes later, Everton pulled one back when the shaky Brad Jones punched Baines’ corner back into trouble and Leon Osman found the bottom corner.

Ten minutes before the interval, with Mirallas dancing through the visitors at will, Marouane Fellaini’s cross was allowed across the Liverpool area and Steven Naismith stabbed in at the far post for his first goal since joining on a free transfer from Rangers in the summer. There was even the incongruous yellow card — one of seven on the day — awarded for Phil Neville’s pathetic dive on the edge of the area, which the Everton captain apologised for afterwards.

Time and again Suarez made England defender Phil Jagielka and, to a lesser extent, Distin, look ponderous as he dropped wide and forced his way in-field.

But the withdrawal of Mirallas helped make it a far less exciting second period but for all the resulting scrappiness, there was still time for drama when Gerrard’s free-kick was glanced across goal by Coates and turned in by Suarez only for the linesman to flag.

Up in the Sky studio Gary Neville accused the officials of bottling it while Rodgers turned the attention towards Neville’s actions when he was asked about Moyes’s view of Suarez.

Within an hour of the final whistle Everton fans could be heard singing ‘Your teeth were offside’ in the streets around Goodison Park and so another chapter was written.

EVERTON: (4-4-1-1): Howard 7; Coleman 7, Jagielka 6, Distin 7, Baines 7; Mirallas 8 (Gueye 46, 5), Osman 7, Neville 6, Naismith 6 (Oviedo 85, 6); Fellaini 8; Jelavic 7.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Jones 6; Wisdom 5 (Henderson 70, 6), Skrtel 8, Agger 7, Enrique 5; Gerrard 7, Allen 8, Sahin 5 (Coates 46, 6), Suso 5 (Shelvey 46, 6) Suarez 8, Sterling 7.

Ref: Andre Marriner.