Sean Dyche had Everton half time team talk ruined by refereeing decision

Sean Dyche was planning to give his players a “jolt” after a positive first half display at Anfield - only for his plans to be ruined by Ashley Young’s red card.

Liverpool won 2-0, opening the scoring with a late penalty awarded with an intervention through VAR after Young had been sent off and Ibrahima Konate avoided the same fate - much to Dyche’s frustration. A second goal then came in stoppage time with Everton pushing for an equaliser.

Even with 10 men Everton had looked relatively comfortable against the hosts up until the 74th minute penalty, forcing them into long-distance efforts and disrupting them in the middle of the pitch.

After the game, Dyche said he was pleased with the performance of his Everton side in a Merseyside derby defined by those controversial decisions.

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He said: “From a group of players giving maximum to the cause and situation given the decisions that were made, I was pleased with that side of things. First half we quelled the game defensively and did a good job with that but didn’t create as much as we have done recently. We definitely weren’t as clean and fluid with the ball as we have been recently but they are a good side, we know that and we defended really well.”

While it changed his plans, Dyche accepted the decision to send off Young just before the break. He thought his first booking was soft but acknowledged the challenge that saw him receive a second yellow was poor. As a result, his half-time plans changed and he moved to five at the back, bringing on Michael Keane and Nathan Patterson for wingers Jack