LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool maintained a perfect start to its Premier League season when Ryan Gravenberch scored and set up a first-half goal in a 2-1 win over Everton on Saturday in the Merseyside derby.
Seeking to win consecutive league titles for the first time since the 1980s, Liverpool is 5-0.
Liverpool was listless and sloppy for large stretches of the second half and Idrissa Gueye scored in the 58th minute for the Toffees, who lost for the first time since their opener at Leeds.
Liverpool
has won five consecutive home games against the Blues for the first time since 1933-37. Everton has not won a match at Anfield attended by fans since 1999, its only victory since then behind closed doors in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic.
Everton manager David Moyes remained winless in 23 games at Anfield with the Toffees, Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham.
Liverpool’s top two summer signings, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, entered as second-half substitutes, Wirtz in the 61st and Isak in the 67th.
Gravenberch put Liverpool ahead in the 10th minute of the 247th Merseyside derby when Mohamed Salah lofted a one-hop pass into his path. The 23-year-old defensive midfielder extended his right leg and on the half volley lifted the ball over the outstretched arm of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Gravenberch made a perfect through-pass in the 29th and Hugo Ekitike slotted the ball through Pickford's legs and inside the far post.
Gueye scored on a long-range shot after Iliman Ndiaye tapped back Jack Grealish's cross. Just shy of his 36th birthday next Friday, Gueye became the second-oldest Everton player to score in a Merseyside derby behind 37-year-old Sam Chedgzoy in 1926, according to Opta.
Liverpool fans repeatedly serenaded Everton supporters with chants of “You haven’t won a trophy since 1995.”
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