The stall beside Dixie Dean's statue sold scarves of Liverpool's recent conquerors, Olympique Marseille. "F*** off to Kirkby, the city is ours," sang away fans. "Sami, Sami Hyypia" the Everton support replied. Hyypia, miscuing a clearance, had scored a gruesome own goal. Insult was answered by insult, tackle by tackle, it was 1-1 and for almost an hour this match had the classic tit-for-tat nature of a derby. Then Mark Clattenburg, the referee, declined to take part in the exchange. What he gave to the Reds and took from Blues he failed to do in reverse. Rafa Benitez had Clattenburg to thank for a pivotal victory and for respite from a fresh inquisition into his decision-making regarding team selection.
Benitez seemed to have been mistaken