Gordon was a constant menace in the desperation derby – his lead must be followed if Everton are to survive

The narrative before this Merseyside derby was bleak. It was possibly Everton’s most defeatist mood before crossing Stanley Park and given recent years, that is some statement.

Nobody gave them a chance. Manager Frank Lampard admitted before the game he would take a point and few of a royal blue persuasion would have argued.

Burnley turned the screw with their win, Ben Godfrey was injured in the warm-up and then everyone waited for Liverpool to deliver a thrashing.

Well, the pessimists were half right. Harsh reality imposed itself in the score, but thanks to the spirit epitomised by a youngster who grew up a stone’s throw from where Sunday’s action happened, all is not lost despite the ominous look of the Premier League table right now.

Lampard will prize the attitude and character shown by Anthony Gordon on Sunday. The young winger led a defiant charge at Anfield as Everton suggested, for an hour at least, that they might take something from this desperation derby; where the stakes were so high for both sides chasing different but compelling aims.

For 62 minutes, Lampard’s Diego Simeone moment looked like it might just present a puzzle so obdurate that a nervy Liverpool could not solve it. Their near-unprecedented lack of possession (only one other team, Swansea City, have had the ball less in a game over the last 20 years), was justified by the consistent counter-attacking threat they posed to Liverpool despite all the hosts’ dominance.

Gordon was a constant menace. He turned lofted out-balls into nervous moments for Liverpool’s defence, and did not let his head drop even after collecting an early booking and a decisive moment of penalty injustice.

The 21-year-old led the way. The accuracy of his passing was comfortably better than any starting team-mate (77.8 per cent compared to second-best Alex Iwobi’s 71.4 per cent). Despite sharing a pitch with players as fleet-footed as Mohammed Salah, Thiago and Diogo Jota, Gordon drew more fouls (four) than anyone.

That pace, poise and hard-running should have earned a spot kick when Joel Matip clumsily shoved over the attacker in the second half. Referee Stuart Attwell chose not even to consult the VAR, perhaps swayed by earlier incidents when Gordon appeared to go down too easily. Nevertheless, it was a significant mistake by the official, and one Everton were always likely to regret. Opportunity does not present itself all that much for a visiting team at Anfield.

Too often, it was only Gordon or Iwobi, producing another lung-busting performance, who managed to get into the space Liverpool were leaving. But with precious few options, Gordon kept going and going. Everton might have wasted the set pieces he earned in sweat for them, but sift through the embers of this disappointment and there is a game plan that may keep his team in the top flight.

Lampard showed the sort of pragmatic approach away from Goodison that belied concerns his inexperience in relegation scraps will be a fatal flaw for Everton.

There was plenty for the advocates of Jose Mourinho or Simeone to admire. Richarlison happily played the villain, going down constantly to disturb the tempo of Liverpool’s play, while Jordan Pickford frequently took around 20 seconds with his goal kicks to further frustrate the hosts.

Better still, Everton — who have frequently been a soft touch and easy to play through this term — were supremely well-formed in their low block with two compact banks that Liverpool could not get behind.

It was not perfect — losing never can be especially when each defeat pushes you closer to the brink. Everton still need to be more clinical. Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gordon and Iwobi missed good chances, something that the team keep doing.

But with Chelsea and Arsenal remaining on a difficult run-in, Everton’s shape and application could yet yield points if they can start taking their chances.

Injuries continue to take a toll. Godfrey’s quad must be assessed to determine how long he will be sidelined, and the goals Everton conceded were partly down to lapses in concentration, which have been all too familiar.

But in the context of this gloom-laden season, Everton may find a crucial way forward in the manner they went away from home and stood up against Jurgen Klopp’s juggernaut.

The history books will record the 240th Merseyside derby as yet another simple home win for Liverpool.

It can mean more than that for Everton though. Lampard is willing to play ugly. Despite the worrying circumstances, the derby proved the players are buying into his methods. Lampard must continue to build on this siege mentality behind closed doors at Finch Farm. To transform any flickers of self-pity about their sorry state into the type of defiance that Gordon so often showed at Anfield.

“To come here and play the way we played and nullify their attack for a big period of the game is really difficult to do,” the Everton manager said. “That spirit and togetherness will be the base of how we can stay in this league.

“The players understand that. They’re not silly. If they’re below par they also understand that and today they know they did a good job. If they were a bit more clinical maybe that game is different. But we move onto the next one with a positive attitude.”

There was little hope going into this derby. But curiously for a game when the result stuck so drearily to the script, Everton emerged with just a dash more.

(Top photo: Tony McArdle/Everton FC via Getty Images)