As fans spilled into the sunshine on Gwladys Street 10 minutes after full-time they were still singing his name. It was a true, blue sky. Evertonians have not felt this way since 1909, the last time their team beat Liverpool by three goals in the league at Goodison.
Johnson was the catalyst in a victory which, to complete the statistics, was his team's biggest in a league derby since a 4-0 win at Anfield 42 years ago and the first to feature three Everton goals in a league game against Liverpool since 1966. Two-nil up, supporters had jeered the fourth official when his board showed there were five minutes of added time but the period was to bring them glee. Liverpool were in the greater need of the bell, reduced to 10 men because of John Arne Riise's injury, and wholly depleted of ideas. When Lee Carsley picked up possession and looped a shot at Jose Reina from 30 yards out, tiredness seemed to grip the goalkeeper.
Losing concentration, he made an ill-judged attempt to push it over his bar, but he needed to be on his line to execute such a manoeuvre rather than near the edge of his six-yard box. The result was that the ball arced behind his head and started to come down inside his goal. Turning and scrambling, Reina desperately shovelled the ball back towards safety but Johnson was following up and nodded it home.
It was Johnson's second goal (he became the first Everton player to score two in this fixture in 11 years) and just one of his many contributions to a famous day.
Goodison cried out “easy!” until full-time at last arrived, upon which a league table flashed up on the stadium's big screen showing Everton — aided by the early kick-off — bestriding the Premiership. It was a day that rather scorned Liverpool's title ambitions.
Visiting manager Rafael Benitez got his selection wrong, fielding Peter Crouch and Robbie Fowler in a moribund forward line, when the occasion seemed better suited to the energy of Dirk Kuyt — a second-half substitute — and the speed of Craig Bellamy, who was not even on the bench. He also brought back Jamie Carragher and Riise from injury.
Riise's ankle knock, sustained in the act of fouling Mikel Arteta 11 minutes from time, was a recurrence of his previous problem and will keep him out for a further two weeks, while Carragher's exceptional powers of anticipation proved insufficient to mask the rustiness of his play.
Johnson's first, and Everton's second goal, had arrived after 36 minutes when Carsley lobbed the ball over the static Sami Hyypia, once dubbed “The Ice Man” but now more like a glacier in terms of the speed he moves.
Hyypia remains an admirably committed footballer, and an accomplished defender when he can get near the ball, but those occasions get fewer seemingly by the game and Carsley's pass dropped for Johnson. Carragher raced over to put out the fire but succeeded only in fanning the flames. His attempted interception bounced off Johnson's shins and the striker stroked the loose ball past Reina.
With Everton already dominating the midfield, a trademark second-half comeback from Liverpool seemed highly unlikely.
The build-up to that second goal had seen Tim Cahill outmuscle Xabi Alonso in an aerial challenge and Momo Sissoko lose out to Arteta. Although not seeking to exonerate his defenders, Benitez pointed out: “The team defending was really poor. The most important thing is we conceded three goals and yet kept a lot of clean sheets last season and we have to analyse why. We conceded so easily and we were too nice.”
Johnson's pacy movement behind his opponents' back line was why. This is the “new dimension” Moyes speaks about. Kevin Ratcliffe, the former Everton captain, had criticised the manager for playing just one up front at home in a derby but Johnson — used to playing the lone role for Crystal Palace — had more than enough guile to unnerve Carragher and Hyypia and Cahill, as clever and feisty as ever, was manful as the link between attack and midfield.
In the latter area, Moyes's quartet of centrally-minded players overran Alonso and Sissoko, although the resistance of Benitez's duo was feeble. His full-backs were also poor and both proved culpable when, having dominated the opening period, Everton moved ahead. Fabio Aurelio went missing, giving Arteta an opportunity to cross from the right. Carsley flicked a header onwards and when Steve Finnan missed the ball under pressure from Leon Osman, Cahill turned it past Reina.
Liverpool's best period ensued. Steven Gerrard, predictably, led the hunt for an equaliser, leaving his berth on the right to roam infield and hit shots from range at Tim Howard. When Luis Garcia tricked Gary Naysmith and struck a lovely, left-footed curler, Howard could only get fingertips to the ball and, sliding in behind him, Gerrard shot against the post.
The woodwork foiled Gerrard again in the second half when he burst on to Hyypia's pass and Kuyt looked to have scored from the rebound until, having gone to ground, Tony Hibbert stopped the ball with his arm. Graham Poll's failure to award a penalty was his sole blemish yesterday.
Benitez should have learned that Crouch and Fowler can't play together. Their common lack of speed ensures their tandem will usually fail.
Moyes already knew that, despite initial reservations about the fee, in paying £8.6m for Johnson, he got a bargain. “Aye, he's doing okay,” said Moyes laconically regarding his striker. “He should feel like the king of Goodison Road today.”
It was a sensation shared by every Everton supporter lucky enough to be in L4.