Premier League Player Ratings: Everton 0-2 Liverpool

EVERTON

Tim Howard - 7 - Out of luck for both goals, beaten by a deflection and a rebound. Made one world-class save to deny Insua.

Tony Hibbert - 5 - Saw plenty of the ball as Everton looked to bombard the penalty area with crosses, but is patently a weak link in David Moyes' side.

Joseph Yobo - 6 - At fault for the second goal as he missed his clearance, the Nigerian had until then enjoyed a decent day's work against Ngog. Unfortunate to deflect Mascherano's wayward shot into the net in the first half.

Sylvain Distin - 6 - Covered Ngog well with his pace and strength, and his long-throws were a dangerous weapon.

Leighton Baines - 6 - Switched off for Kuyt's clincher, but had a useful afternoon and delivered some quality from wide.

Steven Pienaar - 7 - Everton's brightest spark, he buzzed around midfield and looked to dribble and shoot as often as possible.

John Heitinga - 5 - Lost his composure towards the end as the game slipped away, and his distribution was not great.

Marouane Fellaini - 5 - Everton's big target man wins all his headers, but on the ground he lacks quality and conviction in anything he does. Hit Reina with a golden chance at 1-0.

Tim Cahill - 6 - Always a threat in the air, he drew a great stop from Reina, and put himself about a lot in the midfield.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov - 5 - Missed Everton's best chance in the first half and failed to leave an imprint on his derby debut.

Jo - 5 - Offside too often, and looked like a man well short of confidence in his touch and awareness.

SUBSTITUTES

Louis Saha - 5 - Half-fit, Saha wasted his two shooting opportunities.

Lucas Neill - N/A

Yakubu - N/A

LIVERPOOL

Pepe Reina - 7 - Made a couple of uncharacteristic handling errors, but made up for them with a truly world-class double save.

Glen Johnson - 7 - Covered well in the penalty area, and checked his attacking instincts with his growing maturity.

Jamie Carragher - 7 - Threw himself in the way regularly, and showed how much the game meant to him with a series of strong challenges.

Daniel Agger - 6 - Occasionally switched off against Jo, and might have been punished, but all in all a solid day's work.

Emiliano Insua - 7 - Might have grabbed a goal with a marauding run to meet Johnson's cross, and defended stoutly against the tricky Pienaar.

Lucas Leiva - 7 - Given a rollicking after a couple of early lapses in concentration, the Brazilian moved up a gear as the game progressed, and bossed the midfield with Mascherano in the second half.

Javier Mascherano - 8 - Will probably be denied 'his' goal by the dubious goals panel, but the Argentine was excellent in the tackle, passed with invention and was the man of the match.

Dirk Kuyt - 7 - Sealed the win with a poacher's strike, and his hard-work had Everton's defenders worried.

Steven Gerrard - 5 - A poor afternoon's work, he was wasteful on the ball and looked a little off the pace. His one big moment was to retrieve the ball for Riera in the build up for the second goal.

Fabio Aurelio - 5 - Delivered one telling cross from wide, but did little else and was replaced late on.

David Ngog - 6 - Held the ball up pretty well in the first half, but faded after the break as Everton's defence dominated.

SUBSTITUTES

Yossi Benayoun - 6 - Kept the ball for his side, and looked to dribble where most preferred to go long.

Neil Jones, Goal.com UK