Hyypia, miscuing a clearance, had scored a gruesome own goal. Insult was answered by insult, tackle by tackle, it was 1-1 and for almost an hour this match had the classic tit-for-tat nature of a derby. Then Mark Clattenburg, the referee, declined to take part in the exchange. What he gave to the Reds and took from Blues he failed to do in reverse. Rafa Benitez had Clattenburg to thank for a pivotal victory and for respite from a fresh inquisition into his decision-making regarding team selection.
Benitez seemed to have been mistaken in his original team selection, picking Mohamed Sissoko - who directs balls more randomly than the national lottery machines - for a match where control in a congested midfield area would be crucial. Then he appeared to compound his error by replacing not the hapless Mali international but Steven Gerrard. In his younger days, Gerrard could be guilty of petulance but his disbelief when the substitutions' board went up was entirely understandable.
Gerrard, operating in the right channel of midfield, had not had one of his better games but still won the penalty from which Dirk Kuyt had equalised and seemed likelier to prove a matchwinner than the player who came on, the rookie Lucas Leiva, who had never played in the Premier League, let alone a Merseyside derby.
At the end, though, Benitez was punching the air in front of an away section singing his name. The Lucas gamble had proved inspired. In the first minute of stoppage time Jermaine Pennant crossed, Kuyt flicked a shot which Tim Howard parried and Lucas followed up in a fashion that was wonderfully calm for an inexperienced 20-year-old, striking a strong, precise shot that was going in until Phil Neville made a one-handed, strong-wristed save that, alas, would have been quite beyond Paul Robinson. Kuyt made it 2-1 with his second spot kick but should not have been on the pitch.
That's where Clattenburg came in. At 1-1, in the 63rd minute, Kuyt had dived in on Neville kung-fu style and only been shown a yellow card. "I've had a lot of referees telling us about such tackles. The directive is if your feet are off the ground it's a sending off. There was four feet of space between Kuyt [and the ground] when he went in," said David Moyes, who only exaggerated slightly. "He goes on to score the penalty. Perhaps they picked the wrong one [referee] for this game." Everton had further complaints. Neville's dismissal reduced them to nine men, Tony Hibbert having been ordered off for fouling Gerrard for the first penalty, but they summoned resolve for one final attack and as Liverpool tried to defend a cross, Jamie Carragher grabbed Joleon Lescott with both hands and seemed to haul him over. Clattenburg, who was in the perfect position to spot an offence, waved away the penalty claim. Benitez suggested Lescott dived. "He didn't. Joleon is the last person to dive, he was just too strong for Carragher, who had to pull him down," said Moyes, before further damning Clattenburg. "If you don't see that as a penalty perhaps you shouldn't be out there."
Moyes's feelings were heightened by the fact his side were superior for large swathes of play. Everton had the best disciplinary record in the Premier League at kick-off and took the initiative through football that balanced aggression with control. After an opening 15 minutes in which Liverpool's 4-3-3 formation posed them problems, and Yossi Benayoun provided chances for Kuyt and Andriy Voronin to score, Victor Anichebe glanced the bar with a header, Lescott drove forward to set up Leon Osman, and Hyypia scored at the wrong end, spectacularly.
Liverpool could not repel a corner, Alan Stubbs's cross lobbed off John Arne Riise, Lescott flicked on and Hyypia, attempting to clear, got his body in the wrong position and volleyed past Jose Reina off a post.
Everton were still dominant when the second period began but paid for their eagerness to score a second goal. They did not leave enough men back while attacking a corner and when Voronin slipped Gerrard through on the counter the Liverpool captain surged clear of Hibbert. The defender grabbed Gerrard's shirt and made contact with Gerrard's leg just as he arrived at the box and Hibbert was still offending when Gerrard crossed the 18-yard line and went down. Moyes also queried this award, but Clattenburg was correct in giving the penalty and justified - although it was not imperative to do so - in showing Hibbert a red card for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Initially, though, Clattenburg pulled a yellow card from his pocket and changed its colour after Gerrard had a word. "Gerrard talks to him and he changes his mind," fumed Moyes, although it would be impossible to prove whether or not the official was influenced.
Kuyt, off a high-stepping run up that bamboozled Tim Howard, knocked the spot kick to the keeper's left as he dived to his right.
Everton also felt they deserved a penalty when Steve Finnan grappled Lescott four minutes later. Riise shot over when Benayoun served him an opportunity with a cutback, Kuyt made his lunge at Neville and Yakubu volleyed close. It was all go; too much so for Benitez. Gerrard, who wrote in his autobiography of how he can't help taking being substituted as a personal slight, will not like his manager's rationale for swapping him for Lucas. "He is a player of quality. We needed to control the game. We were playing with 11 players [to Everton's 10] and a lot of possession but some players had too much passion. We needed to use the ball properly," Benitez said.
He felt Clattenburg had given a flawless performance and perhaps, given the ludicrous penalty which allowed Chelsea to escape Anfield with a draw in August, Liverpool were due a bit of luck. They remain unbeaten and have won four out of five away from home and suddenly talk of Benitez being under pressure looks quite ridiculous. 