Liverpool denied derby win as VAR rules out Jordan Henderson strike to ensure Everton stay top

And so, 10 years to the day since Everton’s last win against Liverpool with the team looking better than they ever have during this decade, their wait for derby delight went on - but from the vantage point of being top of the table.

An engrossing Merseyside derby, shadowed by a comically poor decision, kept Carlo Ancelotti’s side at the summit and three points clear of their nemesis.

Meanwhile, on the five-year anniversary of Jurgen Klopp's first game in charge of Liverpool, his men illustrated one of the core characteristics he has infused in them: a strong response to setbacks.

They were annihilated 7-2 last time out by Aston Villa, their heaviest defeat in 57 years, but returned to intense, impressive type here. That after losing their best defender - who had played every minute of the prior 74 league games - before even fully getting into stride here.

Goodison derbies have been famed for being tense, turgid affairs with seven of the last eight ending goalless. Not in this season of insanity, however.

Inside 10 minutes, Andy Robertson had motored past Seamus Coleman and cut back for the ceaseless Sadio Mane to lift the ball into the top left. There was nothing Jordan Pickford could do. Moments later, the goalkeeper did what he didn’t have to, adding to the extensive What Exactly Is England’s No.1 Thinking There? archive.

Virgil van Dijk tried to reach a corner delivery at the far post, but was aggressively scissored by the Everton stopped in a horrendous challenge. Both of Pickford’s legs were wrapped around the centre-back’s standing one, doing damage to what seemed to be his knee.

There was a break in play, but there was no red card. The VAR, David Coote, did not analyse the tackle, focusing instead on whether the centre-back had been offside. His arm marginally was. Van Dijk’s leg could have been broken and there is every chance he now has a serious injury, but at least the offside review had been complete, the digital lines drawn.

For the longest while, what happened before and after this moment of madness faded into the background somewhat.

Two very good teams - Liverpool’s midfield, led by the returning Jordan Henderson, imperious in the first half, with Everton lighting up the first stanza of the second half - were involved in a very good tussle. That this encounter will be framed by an officiating error is unfortunate.

Thiago paused time, manipulated space. James Rodriguez once again revelled in his role as a reference point, delivering the corner which Michael Keane headed past Adrian to cancel out Mane’s opener.

The Senegal international was a menace in and out of possession. On the opposite flank, Mohamed Salah recorded his 100th goal for Liverpool in just 159 games across all competitions, becoming the third fastest after Roger Hunt (144) and Jack Parkinson (153) to reach a century for the club.

That was with 75’ showing on the clock and the clash looked designed for Everton to face further derby misery on the 10-year anniversary of their last win against their city foes.

But the final minutes mirrored the incident-packed opening. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the highest scorer in Europe’s top-five divisions, continued his remarkable form and prowess in the air to head in Lucas Digne’s cross to the far post.

There was then, in contract to the opening 10, a red card. Richarlison’s reducer on Thiago was fully deserving of a sending off but the Brazilian was peeved with the call - perhaps he wondered how he walked but Pickford was able to get away it.

At the death, the script writers were denied a narrative. Thiago had spread a wondrous no-look pass down the inside-left channel for Mane. The forward directed the ball across the face of goal, which Henderson sent goalwards to be helped in by… Pickford.

VAR judged Mane to have been fractionally offside and so it ended in another derby draw at Goodison - but at least it broke the cycle of being a goalless one.