The Anfield cauldron bubbled over with raw passion and palpable tension on September 20, 2025, as Liverpool and Everton locked horns in the 248th installment of the storied Merseyside derby—a fixture that never fails to deliver drama, heartbreak, and unfiltered emotion. Under the floodlights of Arne Slot’s fortress, the Premier League leaders edged out a gritty 2-1 victory, preserving their flawless start to the season with nine points from nine. But for the traveling Everton faithful, clad in royal blue amid a sea of red, the result was laced with bitter injustice. At the epicenter of the post-match storm stood Jack Grealish, the Manchester City loanee whose summer switch to Goodison Park has reignited his flair, only for referee Darren England’s decisions to leave him—and the Toffees—seething. In a tirade that captured the frustration of an entire city, Grealish didn’t hold back, blasting the officiating as a farce that robbed Everton of momentum in their valiant second-half surge.
The game itself was a rollercoaster of contrasting halves, a testament to the derby’s unpredictable alchemy. Liverpool, buoyed by their electric home form, struck first in the 10th minute through Ryan Gravenberch’s sublime volley—a moment of Dutch artistry sparked by Mohamed Salah’s pinpoint through-ball that left Jordan Pickford sprawling. The Kop erupted as the midfielder’s strike arrowed into the top corner, a goal that embodied Slot’s high-octane philosophy. Everton, under David Moyes’ pragmatic stewardship, looked shell-shocked, their defense caught flat-footed. The Reds doubled down in the 29th minute when Hugo Ekitike, the French forward who’s hit the ground running since his summer arrival, pounced on a loose ball to slot home his second of the season. At 2-0, Anfield’s roar was deafening, and Everton’s early torpor—marked by wayward passes and tentative challenges—seemed to signal another one-sided drubbing in this lopsided rivalry.
Yet derbies are defined by defiance, and Everton’s transformation after the interval was nothing short of inspirational. Grealish, the 30-year-old Englishman who’s rediscovered his swagger on Merseyside, orchestrated the comeback with the poise of a conductor. His teasing crosses—five in total, the game’s highest tally—unlocked Liverpool’s rearguard, while his three key chances created kept Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate on high alert. “It was what I expected, coming here it was hostile, faster,” Grealish reflected post-match, his voice laced with a mix of adrenaline and exasperation during an interview with TNT Sports. In the 58th minute, his persistence paid dividends: a deflected cross looped back invitingly, allowing Idrissa Gueye to thunder home a half-volley that sent the away end into raptures. Suddenly, the scoreline read 2-1, and Goodison’s traveling army sensed blood. Everton, who had mustered just 0.6 expected goals (xG) from nine shots overall, ramped up the pressure, with Grealish’s mazy dribbles drawing fouls and forcing corners. Wayne Rooney, the derby veteran turned pundit, was effusive: “Everton started off poorly, but they were the superior side overall in that second half—their energy and intent were levels above.”
As the clock ticked into its final throes, Everton camped in Liverpool’s half, desperate for parity. But here, the officiating thundercloud burst. With the Toffees pressing relentlessly—Alisson Becker reduced to hurried clearances—the fourth official’s board flashed just three minutes of added time. It was a paltry allocation, especially given the game’s stoppages: Liverpool’s time-wasting tactics, a cluster of injuries treated on the pitch, and Everton’s frantic goal-line scrambles. Moyes, tying Sir Bobby Robson’s unwanted record of 23 winless visits to Anfield as a manager, was apoplectic on the touchline, gesturing wildly at the officials. Grealish, too, felt the sting. “Come on, I’ve never seen that in the Premier League in the last two or three years,” he fumed to TNT Sports, his trademark curls matted with sweat as he dissected the injustice. The lack of extra minutes, he argued, flew in the face of fairness, especially when juxtaposed with earlier leniency. “Yeah, of course [there were frustrations with the officials]. Listen, I get sometimes you want to let the game go. But then you can’t not give something for us and then two seconds later one of their defenders gets touched in the back, goes down and he gives it.” It was a pointed jab at perceived inconsistencies—Everton’s aggression curbed while Liverpool’s theatrical dives earned soft decisions.
The controversy didn’t end there. In the 78th minute, with an equalizer tantalizingly close, midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall incurred a yellow card for the most peculiar of infractions: taking a free-kick too hastily, before referee England had blown his whistle to restart play. The Englishman, eager to exploit Liverpool’s disorganized setup, had nipped in for a quick release, only to be cautioned for his impatience—a decision that left players, coaches, and neutrals alike scratching their heads. Grealish, who had been the architect of so many promising attacks, was dumbfounded. “I’ve never seen a player in my whole life get booked for taking a quick free-kick,” he vented, his words dripping with incredulity. “They were obviously trying to slow the game down at times.” Dewsbury-Hall’s booking, the third yellow of the match (alongside Grealish’s impending post-whistle caution), underscored a refereeing display that Grealish accused of buckling under Anfield’s infamous pressure cooker. “He’s being swayed by the crowd,” the winger implied, echoing a long-standing gripe in derbies where the home atmosphere can amplify every call.
The full-time whistle blew amid chaos, sealing Liverpool’s win and extending their unbeaten run against Everton to a humiliating 25 games across all competitions. Grealish’s fury boiled over as he marched toward England, remonstrating vehemently about the litany of gripes—the scant added time, the hasty free-kick sanction, the one-sided application of the laws. A yellow card followed for his troubles, but teammate Jordan Pickford, the England No. 1 and derby warrior, intervened like a big brother, physically guiding Grealish away from escalating the confrontation. Moyes joined the fray, his face a mask of disbelief as he aired grievances to the fourth official, later admitting the decisions felt like “a kick in the teeth” for his revitalized side. Despite the loss, Grealish was quick to praise his manager’s influence. “David’s got me firing again,” he said, crediting Moyes for unlocking the creativity that saw him create more chances than anyone on the pitch. It’s a far cry from his muted final season at City, where injuries and rotation sidelined him; on Merseyside, the loanee’s spark has illuminated Everton’s push for mid-table security.
This derby wasn’t just another chapter in the red-blue blood feud—it’s a microcosm of the Premier League’s eternal refereeing debate, where VAR’s shadow looms large but human error still reigns. Liverpool, now nine points clear at the summit, can reflect on a hard-fought three points that silenced doubters of Slot’s early tenure. For Everton, third from bottom but showing flickers of fight, the defeat stings deeper for what might have been. Grealish’s outburst, raw and unfiltered, resonates beyond Goodison: a clarion call for equity in the beautiful game’s most unforgiving arena. As the dust settles, one thing’s certain—the 249th Merseyside meeting can’t come soon enough. In the words of the man who almost turned the tide: “I’ve never seen anything like it.” And in football’s theater of dreams, that’s the kind of line that lingers.
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