The roar of Anfield on a crisp September afternoon in 2025 carried the weight of 247 Merseyside derbies past, a cauldron of red scarves and blue defiance where history is etched in every blade of grass. On September 20, Liverpool welcomed Everton to their fortress for what promised to be another chapter in the oldest rivalry in English football, but what unfolded was a tale of squandered dominance, resilient fightback, and simmering frustrations that boiled over long after the final whistle. For Jack Grealish, the Manchester City loanee who’s traded Etihad shadows for Goodison’s glare—or in this case, the Hill Dickinson Stadium’s electric debut— the 2-1 defeat was a bittersweet gut punch. “When I have watched them [Liverpool] this season they have been so good but there has been a few times they have gone 2-0 up and then conceded two, we had the belief,” he reflected post-match, his voice laced with the fire of a player who’s tasted glory but craves more. “We got the one back, a great finish Idrissa [Gueye] but we couldn’t get that last goal.” In a derby defined by Everton’s second-half surge, Grealish’s words cut through the post-game haze, praising his teammates’ tenacity while laying bare the what-ifs that haunted the Blues.
The match kicked off with Liverpool, under Arne Slot’s meticulous reign, asserting the authority that’s defined their blistering start to the 2025-26 Premier League campaign. Five wins from five prior fixtures had the Reds purring, their high-pressing machine honed to perfection amid European jaunts that tested but never toppled them. Everton, managed by the evergreen David Moyes, arrived as underdogs reborn. Grealish’s season-long loan from City— a £10 million move orchestrated to reignite the 30-year-old’s spark after bench-warming blues—had already yielded dividends. His debut assist in a 2-0 Hill Dickinson opener against Brighton, whipping in a cross for Iliman Ndiaye’s opener, had the 50,000-plus faithful chanting his name like a long-lost son. “Jack Grealish provides the inspiration and smiles as Everton make the perfect start at their magnificent new stadium,” one observer noted, capturing the electric homecoming that symbolized the Toffees’ fresh era after years of financial fog and near-relegation scrapes.
Yet, the first half at Anfield was a rude awakening. Everton’s setup faltered under the Kop’s glare, their backline—deprived of pacey defender Jarrad Branthwaite—sitting deep as long balls sailed aimlessly toward the isolated Beto. Chasms yawned in midfield, exploited ruthlessly by Liverpool’s fluid attack. Ryan Gravenberch ghosted into space for the opener in the 12th minute, his low drive a clinical riposte to Everton’s sluggish press. Worse followed on 28 minutes: a sweeping move culminated in Hugo Ekitike— the French forward who’s slotted seamlessly into Slot’s system—volleying home from a Conor Bradley cross. Two-nil, and Anfield’s pulse quickened toward routine. “Everton started off poorly. Liverpool obviously took advantage of that with the opening two goals,” Wayne Rooney, the former Toffee turned pundit, dissected on Match of the Day, his words a nod to the Blues’ familiar derby demons. Moyes, arms folded on the touchline, cut a frustrated figure, his halftime tweaks a desperate bid to stem the red tide.
What transpired after the break was Everton’s riposte, a testament to the spine Moyes has instilled in a squad blending grit with glamour. No capitulation; instead, a tactical pivot that unleashed their flair players. Grealish, who had been shackled early by Bradley’s tenacity, found his rhythm, his dribbling a hypnotic blend of feints and flicks that dragged Liverpool’s defense into disarray. “Liverpool were giving away cheap fouls, often because they were unable to cope with Grealish’s dribbling,” one report captured the shift, as the loanee drew six fouls— a stat that screamed influence. He teased full-backs into backward dances, feeding the ball wide to Ndiaye, whose pace became a weapon. On 58 minutes, the breakthrough: Grealish’s hanging cross to the far post allowed Ndiaye to tee up Idrissa Gueye, whose thunderous half-volley ripped into the net, halving the deficit and igniting the away end. “A great finish Idrissa,” Grealish echoed, his praise underscoring the midfielder’s clutch timing in a fixture where momentum is everything.
The final 32 minutes were a siege, Everton’s waves crashing against a Liverpool rearguard suddenly creaking under Slot’s European fatigue. Grealish sent Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scampering through on goal, only for the angle to betray him. Ndiaye’s clever cross found Beto lurking, but the Portuguese forward’s header sailed wide—a miss that encapsulated the Blues’ profligacy. Substitutions injected fresh legs: Thierno Barry replaced the tiring Beto, but the script held firm. Liverpool, content to cede possession, resorted to time-wasting as Anfield’s nerves frayed, the Kop’s clamor for the whistle a far cry from their earlier swagger. “The sense of struggle endured throughout the second half… descended into another affair in which control was carelessly eschewed,” Paul Joyce observed, highlighting how Everton’s pressure forced the hosts into a defensive huddle. Yet, for all their possession and promise, the equalizer eluded them. Slot’s Reds clung on, extending their streak to six league wins, but not without scars.
Frustration, inevitable in defeat, erupted at the whistle. Grealish, veins bulging, stormed the officials, confronting referee Darren England over two contentious calls that Moyes branded “very strange” and “unbelievable.” First, in the 78th minute, Dewsbury-Hall’s quick free-kick— a desperate bid for parity—was halted, the midfielder yellow-carded for acting before the whistle. “I’ve never seen that in the Premier League in the last two or three years. Come on,” Grealish fumed to TNT Sports, his disbelief raw. “I don’t know where that rule has come in. Never in my life.” The second sin? Grealish himself booked post-match for haranguing England, accusing the referee of buckling under Anfield’s roar. “Yeah, of course [frustrations with officials]. Listen, I get sometimes you want to let the game go,” he vented, Jordan Pickford physically intervening to pull his teammate away as tempers flared. It was a scene that spoke volumes: Grealish, the eternal agitator, channeling his ire not just at the loss but at perceived bias in football’s theater of dreams.
Amid the storm, Grealish’s message to his squad shone through the clouds. Leading the huddle toward the away fans—who rose in applause despite the scoreline—he shared his pride. “I expressed my admiration for my teammates’ tenacity after Everton gave Liverpool a game in the second half,” he later clarified, the words a rallying cry for a side that’s clawed respect from rivals. This wasn’t the humiliation of derbies past; it was progress, a platform for Moyes to build. Everton, winless at Anfield this century, had forced the champions-elect into paranoia, their second-half dominance a blueprint for upsets ahead.
As the Blues regroup for a Carabao Cup date with Wolves on Tuesday, then West Ham on September 29, Grealish’s dual narrative endures: the frustrated firebrand decrying “a rule I’ve never heard of,” and the inspirational leader fostering belief. “It was what I expected, coming here it was hostile, faster,” he admitted of Anfield’s cauldron, yet his display—teasing defenders, creating chaos—hinted at redemption. In a season of reinvention, from City’s fringes to Everton’s heart, Grealish is scripting his own derby lore: not with victory this time, but with the unyielding spirit that turns near-misses into future triumphs. For the Toffees, it’s a foundation; for Jack, it’s fuel. The Mersey runs blue with possibility.
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