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ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Everton 0 Liverpool 2:THE GWLADYS Street welcomed Jose Reina with a beach ball but he responded by deflating their dreams. Everton sensed blood in a 212th Merseyside derby that represented an invitation to deepen Liverpool’s misery and test the bond between Rafael Benitez and the Kop. The turning point, however, was to be savoured by their rivals.

It is premature to suggest Liverpool have emerged from a trough that threatened to end their Champions League and Premier League interest before December, and some would dismiss that as a ludicrous assertion on this laboured performance. But the breaks that have contributed to their malaise are no longer going against them – not on this evidence, not on a day when Liverpool were outplayed by neighbours who languish three points above the relegation zone but emerged from Goodison Park with a vital triumph. Campaigns have turned on much less.