What Everton supporters chanted in injury time sums up feeling as Goodison Park gets what it deserves

Everton finally produced a performance befitting of the final days of Goodison Park with a Merseyside derby display that meant its supporters could yell with vindication: “The city is ours.”

One of the great shames of this club’s recent struggles has been that the Grand Old Lady has had to rally in desperation, not celebration, with those in the stands dragging a footballing institution from one survival campaign to the next.

But all of the wider problems surrounding this great club were forgotten during 90 minutes in which those in Royal Blue stunned Liverpool, all-but securing Everton’s top-flight status for another year while delivering a hammer blow to the title ambitions of their fiercest rivals. And make no mistake: This was not just a famous win. It was one that was deserved.

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After so many years, so many disappointments in this fixture, and so much heartbreak and heartache, it was an emotional one too. This is a club and a fanbase that has suffered their lowest as their biggest foes have ridden the crest of a silverware-laden wave. All those taunts, all those jibes, all that devastation - all now a thing of the past. On April 24 - and that date is significant - the underdogs bit back, roared on by a crowd that has deserved far more nights like this in recent years. “You lost the league at Goodison Park” was the cry that rang out as this game entered stoppage time. This was not just a win, it was an exorcism. It was the night a tormented fanbase banished some of its most spiteful ghosts.

This was the first time Goodison had hosted a match on this date since 1985, that incredible night when Bayern Munich were