I LOVE derby matches..

Heck.. I can't get enough of derby matches in the English Premier League. I juz finished watching a Merseyside derby match between my beloved Liverpool n Everton. It was the 203^rd derby match between these two sides. Be it the Manchester derby, London derby or northeast derby, they all guarantee a full 90minutes of great action.

And oh my, Liverpool won the exhilarating derby juz now by a scoreline of 3-1. 4 goals scored, 2 red cards, 10 yellow cards n 37 fouls in the exciting match. It was end to end stuff at the noisy Anfield. The match started on a high tempo, juz like any other derbies. Everton almost scored in the early minutes but Tim Cahill was the main culprit in missing the glorious chances. Then, came the shock in the 18^th min. Liverpool's influential skipper, Steven Gerrard was sent off with two quick yellow cards. The 1^st one was for kicking the ball away during a FK n the 2^nd one on a rash 2-footed tackle on Kevin Kilbane at the outside of the Liverpool box. The 2 yellow cards were separated with 35seconds can u believe it? Sheesh.. N Liverpool was down to 10-men by the 18^thmin. I lost hope; I thought it was the end of the game for Pool.

Then the miracle in the last minute of the first half came. Liverpool had their first 2 corners of the match. Alonso sung in the first one but it got cleared away for another corner. The 2^nd corner by Alonso was being hit into the net by Philip Neville. It was an own goal n I was delighted Pool could go into half time with a slender 1-0 lead even with one man short. I can't defend Stevie G though. He should have known better not to kick the ball away during a FK.

More delight for me after the 15min break. Within 2minutes of the restart, Liverpool went 2-0 up. A long ball from goalkeeper Pepe Reina was being flicked on fabulously by Peter Crouch. The ever lively Luis Garcia latched onto the knock down n charged towards the goal. Richard Wright panicked n came off his line. His actions made the job easier for Garcia n he coolly lobbed the Everton goalie to give Pool a 2-0 lead.

For most of the period of the game, u would have thought Everton was the one with a man down. The Reds dominated the match, camping at the Everton half even with a man short on the field.

However, Eveton pulled one back in the 61^st minute through the on form Tim Cahill. A corner was awarded for The Toffees n Cahill met the corner with a great header. Reina had no chance, 2-1. More to come in the 74min as Everton substitute, Andy Van Der Meyde, was shown a straight red card for a deliberate elbow on Xabi Alonso. He was only on the field for 7min until he was given the marching orders. With both sides down to 10men, there was nothing to fear for me now. But the scoreline of 2-1 still looked insecure. Heehee.. My fears were eradicated in the 84^thmin as Harry Kewell completed the scoring with a spectacular left foot strike juz outside the Everton box. 3-1 to Liverpool!! It stayed that way till the full time whistle. I punched the air in joy as Liverpool completed a double over Everton this season. The Reds are now on 2^nd spot on the EPL table. Manchester United will play tmr. The sad thing is Gerrard is going to be banned for one match due to the red card. Well done Reds. I love u guys!

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