Source: Liverpool_Echo
David Prentice's Mersey derby reaction: Liverpool got lucky, Everton didn’t
GIVEN the afternoon he'd endured, David Moyes' reaction was understand- able. 'Do you want this leaving on?' enquired an eager to please press officer, as the Blues boss trudged into the press room while Sir Steven Redgrave and Kelly Smith were still plucking balls from the FA's drum.[LNB]'No,' he rapped, probably fearing a third round trip to Melchester Rovers with Roy Race on a hot scoring streak.[LNB]He needn't have worried. Carlisle at home was a good draw. But it was the only thing which went right for him all day.[LNB]David Moyes got all the running he demanded from his players, and a little bit more.[LNB]He got commitment and character. And he got the best performance his side has produced in a derby match under his tenure.[LNB]But he didn't get that other quality which wins football matches. Luck.[LNB]That was the bottom line at Goodison Park yesterday.[LNB]Liverpool got lucky, Everton didn't.[LNB]And as a result the huge injection of confidence that a derby win can bring was pumped into red veins, not blue.[LNB]Rafa Benitez's post-match suggestion that Everton played 'a direct and set-pieces game' was perhaps designed to deflect from his own side's deficiencies.[LNB]True, Everton's best chance of the game came from three headed flick-ons, but the Blues mixed their game up impressively and it is still baffling to work out how they failed to win, let alone came away beaten.[LNB]But lose they did, leaving their fans with the hollow taste of defeat, and their manager scrabbling around for positives.[LNB]At least this time David Moyes didn't have to look far.[LNB]Marouane Fellaini's peerless performance showed that he should be left to grow into the holding midfield role, rather than lumped up front every time Everton lack a little physical presence.
