Coleman: This win is for all the Evertonians

For the duration of his time at Everton, Seamus Coleman had never won at Anfield. In fact, he could probably be forgiven for having forgotten the last time the Toffees beat Liverpool, seeing as it was over a decade ago and he played right midfield as the Blues won 2-0 in October 2010.

When asked how he felt about finally getting a positive result away at the the Reds, the club captain’s response was not surprising.

“It’s an amazing feeling. Coming here [to Anfield] over the years, we felt we were letting ourselves down but, more importantly, letting the blue side of the city down.

“It’s been hard. You can put a face on it and try to brush it off, but I’ve been in the city for 10 years and you feel sorry for the fans.

“I thank the manager for the way he set us up tonight, and the players put in an unbelievable shift – and that was against the champions, so we’re delighted.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking up at the clock a few times when it was 1-0. I thought Jordan [Pickford] was great but at the same time I did feel comfortable in the match.

“We’ll enjoy this – and this win is for all the Evertonians.”

This hug between Seamus and Carlo Ancelotti should tell you everything you need to know about what this victory means to both.

Ancelotti opted for what looked like a five-man backline, but Coleman indicated that he had one particular brief assigned to him, to negate Liverpool’s rampaging left back Andy Robertson.

“For me, personally, I had to follow Andy Robertson. I think the last time I did that it was against Ashley Cole at Stamford Bridge. He [Robertson] is a great player and I just tried to stay with him as much as I could.

“As a team, it was just to compete and try to break the press when we could. But, listen, when you’re holding a lead it is difficult to be brave and try to play out from the back. We probably didn’t play as much as we would have liked.

“But we got the result. Dominic came on and made a difference. Now we need to move on from this. We can’t just celebrate this, we need to start moving the football club forward now.

“That goes back to the likes of [games against] Fulham and West Ham at home – that’s where we need to start being better all-round.”

Indeed, it’s been a story of Everton’s season that they have been at their best against some of the better teams in the league, and have failed to show up against supposedly weaker opposition.

Coleman had a golden chance to get on the scoresheet himself to make it 2-0 in the first half when he got to a peach of a cross from Lucas Digne, but his header was straight at the goalkeeper Alisson who was able to parry away to safety.

“I just wanted to get contact on the ball [with my header].

“I think Allison made a great save – maybe it was a bad miss. It was a great ball from Lucas [Digne] and I thought maybe that was going to be a goal.

“It wasn’t to be but, a 2-0 win, I’m happy with that!”

Indeed Seamus, we all are!