Sam Allardyce looked like the cat who had got the cream as he strolled into his press conference after Sunday's Merseyside derby, Everton having come from behind to draw 1-1 with Liverpool courtesy of Wayne Rooney's penalty.

A controversial penalty it was too, Craig Pawson deeming that Dejan Lovren had made too much contact on Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the penalty area, seemingly pushing him over. 

"Don't put your hands on a forward when he's in the box," were Allardyce's thoughts.

"If you do you're running the risk of giving a penalty away.

"He had no need to do it, he could have stood up. He put his hands on him, pushed him over. People can call it soft, you can't do that."

Rooney revival continues

In his first derby since re-joining Everton, Rooney - who scored the winner twice at Anfield for Manchester United - made no mistake in firing the ball home.

A big moment, when he couldn't afford to miss, he'd have been absolutely gutted," said Allardyce.

"He made the ball for us to get the penalty, one of the few really good passes we made. Full marks to him, kept his nerve and put it right down the middle."

Dogged defending from Blues

One of the biggest criticisms of Everton this season has been their vulnerability to leak goals, with fans fearing another drubbing at the hands of free-scoring Liverpool.

Allardyce, though, is famed for being able to discipline teams, his regimented style shining through once more as the Toffees tamed Liverpool well in comparison to most that have taken on the Reds this season.

"Whatever anyone talks about or says, possession wise Liverpool would have a huge amount more than us, they had three shots on target and we had two, so that shows how well we've mastered such a great side today in terms of their goalscoring ability.

"Our defensive quality throughout the game was very good. Nerves played a part with how we used the ball in the first half. Liverpool shut us down so well.

"We got better and got up the pitch a little more, that paid off with the penalty."

 

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