Everton lost against Liverpool in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday to extend their retched run at Anfield.
Everton have won just once at Anfield since the turn of the millennium, and they were beat again this week.
However, the Toffees did put on a solid performance, holding the league leaders to just one goal.
Diogo Jota earned praise for scoring the winning goal, but speaking on the Official Liverpool Podcast, Phil Thompson has reserved a special mention for one Everton player in particular.
Indeed, the pundit hailed Vitaliy Mykolenko for the job he did against Mohamed Salah, claiming that the Ukrainian did really well against the Egyptian.
Phil Thompson praises Vitaliy Mykolenko
Thompson spoke about Everton’s defensive performance, singling Mykolenko out for praise.
The pundit says that the £17m man did really well against Salah, keeping the attacker quiet for most of the game.
“They’re all giants back there. It’s hard to get past them.
“Mykolenko did very well against Mo. When you think of the amounts of times Mo really caused danger, not as much as Luis Diaz. But you have to keep probing.
“You have to keep doing it. If you negate it and you go, well, let’s not go there because we’ve been there all the time. You need to keep going and putting that pressure on.
“And the fullback did really well against Luis Diaz, but he kept going, coming inside. And I was happy because at times we come inside all the time and they get the blocks and everybody does it. He was going outside, so we’re causing problems all the time.”
Mohamed Salah and Vitaliy Mykolenko stats from Merseyside derby
Thompson said that Salah was kept quiet against Everton, and he’s not wrong.
The Egyptian barely laid a finger on the Toffees during this game, as the stats show.
| Mohamed Salah stats vs Everton | |
|---|---|
| Shots | 1 |
| Shots on target | 1 |
| Key passes | 0 |
| Dribbles | 0 |
| Goals | 0 |
Salah has been off form for a few weeks now, and that’s something that may be concerning for Liverpool.
As for Mykolenko, the full-back was excellent against Liverpool, and his numbers also show how impactful he was at the back.
| Vitaliy Mykolenko stats vs Liverpool | |
|---|---|
| Tackles | 4 |
| Clearances | 8 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Crosses | 4 |
Ultimately, Liverpool scored a controversial goal to win the derby on Wednesday, but, overall, this was a solid performance from Everton and one they can be proud of.
