Stalemate in bruising Merseyside derby

VAR denies Liverpool; Chelsea blows handsome lead; Napoli runs riot

Champion Liverpool was foiled by VAR as it was held to a 2-2 Premier League derby draw with Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday after a late effort from Jordan Henderson was ruled out.

Everton remained top of the table on 13 points, three ahead of Liverpool, after an incident-packed end to the 237th Merseyside derby.

The game was locked at 2-2 after Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s 10th goal of the season in all competitions had brought Everton level in the 81st minute.

But in stoppage time, Thiago Alcantara found Sadio Mane with a clever pass and the Senagalese’s low cross was turned in by Henderson, only for VAR to find the narrowest of offsides.

To add to Liverpool’s disappointment, it suffered an injury to key defender Virgil van Dijk, which forced the Dutchman out of the game in the 11th minute, after a reckless challenge from Everton keeper Jordan Pickford.

Everton’s Brazilian forward Richarlison was sent off in the 90th minute after a wild challenge on Thiago Alcantara.

Then came the VAR drama that left Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp bemused. “I’ve seen the disallowed goal at the end and in the picture I saw it wasn’t offside. Can someone explain that to me?” the German said.

Later Chelsea was two goals to the good after early strikes by Timo Werner but still allowed Southampton to claw back to a 3-3 draw. It was up 3-1 after Kai Havertz scored but Danny Ings, Che Adams and Jannik Vestergaard ensured the points were shared.

Napoli blasted four goals in a devastating 20-minute first half spell as it thumped Atalanta 4-1 in Serie A on Saturday, handing the visitor a taste of its own medicine.

The results: Premier League: Everton 2 (Keane 19, Calvert-Lewin 81) drew with Liverpool 2 (Mane 3, Salah 72); Chelsea 3 (Werner 15, 28, Havertz 59) drew with Southampton 3 (Ings 43, Adams 57, Vestergaard 90+2).

LaLiga: Granada 1 (Herrera 82) bt Sevilla 0.

Serie A: Napoli 4 (Lozano 23, 27, Politano 30, Osimhen 43) bt Atalanta 1 (Lammers 59).

Bundesliga: Hoffenheim 0 lost to Borussia Dortmund 1 (Reus 76); Freiburg 1 (Lienhart 15) drew with Werder Bremen 1 (Fuellkrug 25-pen); Hertha Berlin 0 lost to Stuttgart 2 (Kempf 9, Castro 68); Mainz 0 lost to Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Alario 30); Augsburg 0 lost to RB Leipzig 2 (Angelino 45, Poulsen 66).

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