Liverpool's title chances were washed away on a blue tide of desire. The timing of this 2-0 defeat could not have been worse, writes IAN LADYMAN

The only consolation for Jurgen Klopp was that he didn’t have far to go home. Safe by the water in Formby to reflect on the night his final great title challenge in English football may well have been washed away on a blue tide of desire and yearning.

Is this really it for Klopp and Liverpool? Well the league table has them just three points behind leaders Arsenal. But Liverpool are hurtling fast in the wrong direction and the statistics tell their own story. 

Four points from their last four league games has left them needing miracles that simply don’t tend to happen when Manchester City are involved.

With Arsenal driven by renewed ferver and with City holding two games in hand, there surely is no way back for the third horse in the race. So it seems that Klopp will leave Anfield with honour next month but not swaddled in glory. There were four trophies on the go at one stage. It seems he will leave with just one, the Carabao Cup.

And what a place for the house to finally fall down. Goodison Park, of all places. Klopp had not lost at the neighbours’ place before and the timing of this defeat was cataclysmic.

Everton were at it all night. Energetic, determined and full of running. Sean Dyche’s team played good football too. Liverpool enjoyed an awful lot of possession but Everton were better in both penalty areas and everything they took from this night.

At the end, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and centre forward Darwin Nunez both appeared to be sarcastically clapping referee Andrew Madley. They followed that by handing each other a low five. It was a strange spectacle and a very bad look indeed.

Madley was not the cause of this defeat while Nunez had missed another clear chance with the score at 0-1 and Van Dijk had failed to deal with Dominic Calvert-Lewin as the Everton forward headed in his team’s second goal. So a look in the mirror may instead be appropriate.

But this is what happens when teams lose big games. Nerves get frazzled. Perception gets skewed. The bald truth was that Liverpool had not been good enough. Their form has deserted them when they needed it most and that will perhaps take a little while to get over.

Everton, meanwhile, now look destined to end this traumatic and difficult season with Premier League status assured. They will play top flight football in Goodison’s final season next time round and there is something pleasing about that. It looks its age now but on nights like this it’s a rare old place to be.

Early on Goodison was jumping and Everton responded. The game was frantic and while the home team worked off the back of that, Liverpool suffered.

As they chased hard working blue shadows in the centre of the field, Liverpool were unable to stop themselves nudging and shoving and diving in. And when they inevitably did make their tackles, their timing was off.

When Everton took the lead in the 26th minute, it was from their eighth free-kick of the game. They had been threatening. 

Everton actually thought they were about to take the lead in the opening moments. A pass from the right flank from Jack Harrison caught Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson on his heels. 

When the Brazilian did dash out he brought Calvert-Lewin crashing to the floor. It was a clear foul but when VAR intervened the freeze frame showed Calvert-Lewin to be offside. No penalty.

Twenty minutes later, however, Everton were ahead. VAR had a look once again, this time at Jarrad Branthwaite’s positioning as a hopeful ball was lifted over the top. But the defender was just the right side of the line and as such his goal – that came after Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate deflected a subsequent loose ball in to his path – was allowed to stand.

Everton deserved the lead at that stage. They had already come close through Abdoulaye Doucoure, who shot wide from close, and Calvert-Lewin, whose header was pawed away by Alisson. Everton defender Ben Godfrey had also headed a good chance wide.

The home team were impressive while the visitors were not. When Liverpool did discover some fluency and start to create chances towards the end of the first half, they couldn’t take them.

Almost inevitably, given his recent form, Nunez was culpable on one occasion, running on to a cute Mo Salah pass only to shoot against Jordan Pickford’s legs. Pickford did it again a minute before the interval, this time denying Luis Diaz from similar close range. 

On both occasions, however, Pickford probably shouldn’t have been given a chance and that was the case once again in first-half added time when Nunez laid a ball back to Salah 16 yards out and the Egyptian blazed wildly over.

Everton had hung on a little during that period and a Liverpool goal may have turned it. But Van Dijk could only head at Pickford early in the second half while Andrew Robertson could not apply a finish to a dink over the top from Alexis MacAllister.

Liverpool had possession, had numerical overloads and had corners. But they had no goals. And when Alisson tipped a Dwight McNeil long shot over in the 58th minute, the Everton player swung the resulting corner to the far post and Calvert-Lewin rose to head down and in. 

Who was marking Everton’s most dangerous player? Robertson was nearby and Van Dijk was in the vicinity also. But nobody was actually making life difficult for Calvert-Lewin and his finish was as comfortable as it was ultimately decisive.

Liverpool tried to come again and Diaz struck a post. But in truth there was no sign of a comeback to tell the grandkids about. Instead, by full-time a new ditty had entered the Everton song book.

‘You lost the league at Goodison Park,’ they sang. Klopp will be hearing that one above the sound of the waves.