Liverpool 1 Everton 0

A ten man Reds side beat Everton in a derby thanks to a goal from Dirk Kuyt in the second half. The football on show wasn"t always great but the Reds showed a passion and determination that in reality said there was only ever going to be one winner.

However you feel before the game there"s nothing quite like going to your seat in a ground like Anfield and a sight of the enemy fans to get you going. To have one or two of them sitting pretty near to you makes you sing even louder and prouder.

After losing the toss the Reds were forced to attack the Kop end in the first half and as a result defend the half with the sun shining in - although that changed to doses of fog as the afternoon wore on.

In the early minutes both sides looked to stamp an authority on the game. Carragher charged in to win a ball before Pienaar could even see him coming. It sent the South African crashing to the floor and it took a few minutes for him to recover from a sore shoulder.

Steven Gerrard was felled down near the Kop corner Neville got away with and for me this actually sent the ref down the wrong road from the off. That"s the time to clamp down but when he didn"t he left himself open to all kinds. The derby these days doesn"t usually need any invite for a red card or tasty tackle going in so you ignore it at your peril.

The Reds slowly got their game moving and were playing ok stuff at times without troubling their back line. Everton were looking to hit Saha and Cahill but against they were never over troubling in form Kyrgiakos or Agger.

Dirk Kuyt became the first yellow card of the day and he could have no complaints when he brought Donovan down in cynically fashion. Baines took the resultant free kick but Reina was its equal.

Just past the midway point in the half the tackles stepped up a level. Dirk Kuyt was fouled in the middle of the pitch but when he was down Fellaini followed in with his boot to the Dutch strikers face which incensed both him and the crowd. The whistle had well gone but the ref ignored the challenge and that cranked the level up a bit more because of it. Those are the times to put a lid on it once and for all but he missed it.

Just before the half hour mark the ref got it totally wrong. Steven Pienaar clearly led with his studs and felled Mascherano. The Argentine was down in agony in what could easily have broken his leg. The ref disgracefully showed only a yellow card. The disgrace here was that in showing that card acknowledged that he saw the foul. How he couldn"t send him off I have no idea as he was only five yards away.

Inside a minute Jamie Carragher was booked when he hacked Pienaar from behind. He was never going to get the ball and it was down to retaliation more than anything I think after he was somehow still on the pitch.

David Ngog managed to send a shot wide of the target under pressure from Osman who slid in to put him off whilst at the other end Reina was out double quick as Saha tried to get in behind the back line.

The huge talking point came on thirty three minutes when Fellaini tried to get a ball that was running away from him. Kyrgiakos jumped in two footed but was also caught by the Blue man. Both players were down injured and biased as I was without the aid of tv in the stand we were all waiting for Fellaini to be sent off for diving through the Greek defender. Once things started to settle down it turned out that the free kick had gone against us and you then sensed a red card for us.

The Red card came and for a second Fellaini tried to get straight up only to fall down again. He went off for treatment and despite getting back on his feet he was carried off down the tunnel. I"ve seen it again since on tv and I have to admit the Kyrgiakos tackle was red as you just can"t jump off the ground for a tackle like that. However I wasn"t wrong about Fellaini and he was very lucky to not be sent off as well. Everton replaced him with Mikel Arteta and he can play football - sticks out for them really.

Before half time was reached there was time for a chance to both sides. Steven Gerrard hit the crossbar with a free kick after he was brought down by Cahill. At the other end Cahill sent a header over the bar when he should have done better. It was a big let off for the Reds and one the Blues would regret.

The second half got started with the Reds not making a change. They left Mascherano playing right back which worried me a little as he isn"t one for holding his position necessarily. Everton never really took advantage though and in fairness a Blue I spoke to after the game admitted it.

On fifty four minutes the Reds played a ball for Ngog and he tried to get a shot away but it was deflected for a corner off Distin. Steven Gerrard walked over to take the kick right in front of their fans. He delivered a great corner in to the six yard box and Kuyt headed it in. To be honest when the ball hit the net I had no idea who had scored it as I just went mad. I had to check afterwards who had actually scored or if it had actually gone straight in from the corner.

Now that the Reds had the lead it was more in our favour. Everton would have to play more which was likely to leave gaps for us on the counter. It became almost a European game for the Reds and they played superbly. David Ngog was replaced by Babel up front and the French striker I think only went off through tiredness as he was playing his part on the pitch by holding up what he could to get support there. He has really started to develop this season and games like this can only improve him. If only I could sing the praises of Babel who replaced him. Less than half an hour yet the stamina of an old man with a broken leg. He really did himself no favours in this and just couldn"t hold the ball up.

For all the ball that Everton were getting they weren"t troubling the Reds defence and Reina may as well have got a deckchair out. Everton sent on Anichebe and Yakubu as they went more direct. Yakubu was just back from the African Nations were he"d clearly been eating a bit much judging on the size of him.

As time went on it was Yakubu who had a rare shot for Everton which was moving all over the place before Reina tipped it over the bar for a corner. They just weren"t creating anything and seemed a bit clueless about how to take advantage of the extra man. Since the Reds just left one up front they were still a standard four and four after that which certainly helped and their determination prevented much from happening.

As the clock ticked on it just got closer and closer to the inevitable win in truth. Before the final whistle came though Everton were reduced to ten men as well as Pienaar jumped in to Gerrard late in the air. The Reds captain was sent crashing to the ground whilst Pienaar was sent for an early bath. He tried to hang around protesting his innocence but he was late in the jump and got a second yellow to go with the one that should have been Red in the first half.

As the final whistle went the Reds were left celebrating another derby win at Anfield - they haven"t lost since the last century at Anfield. It was a great win and deserved against a side who had an extra man for nearly an hour yet conceded the only goal in the same period.

MotM : Dirk Kuyt - worked so hard throughout and scored the all important goal - his 50th for the Reds. He had the battle scars to go with it as well but the whole team performance should be noted and for me Lucas deserves huge praise for taking the sting out of the game so many times - no hacked clearance - calm;y control the ball and give it to a Red shirt.

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Dirk Kuyt scores his 50th Liverpool goal