New Telegraph

EPL: Everton win at Anfield for first time since 1999

*Draws for Saints, Chelsea, Burnley and Baggies

Everton secured a first Premier League win at Anfield in 22 years as goals from Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson dealt a blow to Liverpool’s top-four hopes.

Richarlison opened the scoring in the third minute when he was played in on goal by James Rodriguez – the Brazilian driving a low finish across Alisson.

Jordan Pickford then made a number of important saves to deny Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah as the hosts tried desperately to get back level, reports the BBC.

However, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was brought down inside the box late on and Sigurdsson confidently scored from the spot as Everton secured a famous win that moves them level on 40 points with the Reds.

Liverpool, with several players unavailable, also suffered a further injury setback as Henderson limped off in the first half.

Defeat for Liverpool continued the defending champions’ poor form in the Premier League as they have now lost their past four fixtures and are three points behind fourth-place Chelsea.

And West Brom boss Sam Allardyce says his side produced one of the best performances by 10 men he has seen as they were held to a goalless draw by Burnley.

The Baggies secured their first clean sheet since November 28 despite the first-half dismissal of Semi Ajayi.

And although the point did little to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation – they are 11 points adrift of safety – Allardyce was pleased with what he saw.

“We are showing how much we are improving,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“That was one of the best 10-man performances I have ever seen in my time.

“I have actually won a lot of games with 10 men, and this one well deserved a win with 10 men, but unfortunately we have to kick ourselves for missing golden opportunities.”

Matheus Pereira was the chief culprit in that respect. The Brazilian somehow missed his kick in the middle of the six-yard line with only Nick Pope to beat after being set up by Mbaye Diagne.

In the melee that followed, Pereira failed to turn home an Ainsley Maitland-Niles cross as James Tarkowski eventually cleared.

In the first match of the day, Ralph Hasenhuttl said he hoped Southampton’s draw against Chelsea was the start of his side returning to their normal selves after they ended a run of six successive Premier League defeats.

The hosts took the lead against the run of play in the first half when Nathan Redmond played a brilliant ball to send Takumi Minamino clear and the on-loan Liverpool striker showed great composure to slot beyond Edouard Mendy.

But the Saints gifted Chelsea an equaliser eight minutes after the break when Danny Ings brought down Mason Mount inside the box and the Blues midfielder stepped up to send Alex McCarthy the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Chelsea were unable to kick on after that and instead it was Southampton who went closest to grabbing a winner as Jannik Vestergaard hit the crossbar with a header before Ings put the loose ball into the side-netting.

However, Saints manager Hasenhuttl was satisfied with a positive result in light of their recent torrid run.

“A draw feels like a win,” he said. “It’s a step towards us returning to our normal form.”

“We are believing in what we are doing. The Premier League is tough. For us, it is good that we take a point from such a strong side.”

RESULTS

Southampton 1 – 1 Chelsea

Burnley 0 – 0 West Brom

Liverpool 0 – 2 Everton

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