The city was blue on Sunday night as Everton triumphed emphatically against Liverpool in an historic first Women’s Super League Merseyside derby at Anfield post-pandemic and more crucially post the Lionesses’ victory at the European Championships.
2022 has already gone down as a landmark year for football in England after Sarina Wiegman’s side’s 2-1 extra-time success over Germany that secured the country’s first major international trophy since the men’s team’s World Cup triumph of 1966, which should now provide the platform for the women’s game to embark on an exciting new era on these shores.
A significant part of that revolution will be transferring the kind of bumper crowds that roared the hosts on to victory at the Euros to WSL matches and while we’re not quite there yet – certainly in these parts – the numbers are at least going in the right direction. This weekend, Arsenal were hoping to break Goodison Park’s fabled record attendance for a women’s club match in England that has stood for almost 102 years since 53,000 – with a further 10-14,000 locked out – watching Preston’s Dick, Kerr Ladies defeat St Helens 4-0 on Boxing Day 1920, but had to make do with an albeit still impressive gate of 47,367 for their thrashing of north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur by the same scoreline.
READ MORE: Everton Women player ratings as Jess Park and Katrine Veje outstanding in famous win at Liverpool
Here the 27,574 gate was an improvement on the 23,500 that witnessed the last pre-Covid WSL Merseyside Derby at Anfield in 2019, and perhaps that figure might have been even higher with a more favourable kick-off time than a Sunday evening for the large number of families and young children in the crowd after the time was moved to accommodate Sky television coverage. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta – a former Everton player of course – caused a stir on the recent Amazon Prime behind the scenes documentary All or Nothing when he was shown playing 'You’ll Never Walk Alone' to his players during a training session to try and help them prepare for the atmosphere of Anfield. But unlike his Gunners side in the Premier League last season, the Blues dealt much better with the big game occasion than their hosts and coolly went about their task.
As stated earlier, through building on the feel-good factor of the Lionesses at the Euros, 2022 could be the kind of watershed date for women’s football in England that 1992 was for the men’s game with the formation of the Premier League as a pivotal moment that ushered our national sport into the modern era. But it was one of Everton’s old stagers, Katrine Veje, one of just two Blues players born before then along with captain Izzy Christiansen (both are 31), who ran the show here.
Nominally lining up on the left side of defence in a 3-4-3 formation, the Danish international – snapped up by new manager Brian Sorensen from Malmo-based Rosengard rather than Fortuna Hjorring where he came to Merseyside from and a veteran of a previous spell on these shores with Arsenal in 2019/20 – nevertheless ran this game and despite her starting position at the back, was one of the visitors’ biggest creative outlets, leading by example to her younger team-mates with a fearless and energetic display. Although Veje was one of a trio of Scandinavians among seven non-English players in Everton’s starting line-up, this was no ‘smash and grab’ Viking raid from Sorensen’s marauders and they dominated a Liverpool side managed by Matt Beard – a boss who steered the Reds to a brace of WSL titles during his first spell in charge – from start to finish with the scoreline reflecting their superiority in every area of the pitch.
Curiously it was a couple of English players who were not part of Wiegman’s Wembley wonders – Megan Finnigan and Jess Park – who put Everton on their way to their first three points of the season after being beaten 1-0 at West Ham United a week ago (their scheduled home opener against Leicester City postponed after the death of the Queen will now be played this Thursday at Walton Hall Park). The pair’s goals on such a high-profile stage suggest that the well of up-and-coming home-grown talent goes beyond those who tasted international glory this summer, and with a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand on the horizon next summer, there are places up for grabs.
Finnigan had already gone close when she let fly with a shot from distance that Liverpool goalkeeper Rachael Laws tipped over the bar but a few moments later she enjoyed the adulation of putting Everton ahead in front of the Kop. With 10 minutes on the clock, the Blues defender rose highest to meet Veje’s right-wing corner and nod into the Liverpool net.
It was only when Everton played themselves into trouble that they were threatened, and were relieved when Katie Stengel failed to capitalise after Rikke Sevecke gifted her possession, but the visitors continued to pile forward and with the Reds struggling to deal with a series of diagonal balls into the danger area, it was no surprise when Swedish international Nathalie Bjorn picked out Park with one such pass. The 20-year-old forward – on loan from Manchester City – still had plenty to do, but showed terrific composure to coolly take the ball around Laws before emphatically despatching into the net on 33 minutes.
After the break, the Blues played smart enough to keep their hosts at arm’s length and the coup de grace arrived on 87 minutes as lively substitute pair Hanna Bennison and Gio Quieroz combined with Park to fashion a well-worked third goal. Brazilian teenager Gio – on loan from Arsenal – showed great desire to dispossess Megan Campbell and then fed Park who turned provider to pick out Swede Bennison who slid in at the far post and send the Evertonians who had crossed Stanley Park into raptures.
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