LIVERPOOL, England, April 19 (Reuters) - Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk scored with a header in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time on Sunday to snatch a 2-1 Premier League win ina thrilling climax to the first Merseyside derby at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Liverpool once again looked shaky and lost goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili to injury in the second half, but Van Dijk dug deep to deliver a victory that boosts their hopes of Champions League football despite a disappointing season.
Liverpool stay fifth in the standings on 55 points, three behind Aston Villa with five games left to play. Everton are 10th on 47 points.
The top five teams will play in next season's Champions League.
Playing in his final derby ahead of his planned departure from Liverpool in the summer, Mohamed Salah stamped his mark on the game in the 29th minute as Everton gave the ball away cheaply and Cody Gakpo picked out the Egyptian who calmly fired home past Jordan Pickford to break the deadlock.
After a poor start, that goal jolted the visitors into life, butBeto brought Everton roaring back early in the second half by holding off Liverpool defender Andy Robertson before steering a low cross from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall into the net from close range.
In a worrying development for coach Arne Slot, keeper Mamardashvili was injured in the incident and had to be replaced by Freddie Woodman, and the 29-year-old had some worrying moments as he stepped in to mind the net for the remainder of one of the biggest fixtures in English football.
ATTACK TO DEFEND
Deciding that attack was the best form of defence, Gakpo went close with a header for Liverpool that was cleared by James Tarkowski but Everton finished strongly and looked to be on their way to a well-deserved point.
However, Liverpool had other ideas, with substitute Rio Ngumoha blazing an excellent opportunity over the bar in the eighth minute of stoppage time at the end of the game before Van Dijk's late heroics to snatch the win.
Though delighted with the win, the Liverpool captain fired a broadside at his team after a disappointing season that has seen the reigning champions slip a long way from the standards they set themselves last season.
"Today was massive in the situation that we are, in hunt for the Champions League spots - that is definitely not Liverpool-worthy, in my opinion, but it is the reality and it was important we got the win. I'm glad we did," Van Dijk told Sky Sports.
"We are very disappointed as a whole for the season that we're having because of the quality we have - it's below standards, but we have to keep fighting, keep going and make the best out of this poor season we're having. That's the reality, onto the next (one)," he added.
(Reporting by Philip O'ConnorEditing by Christian Radnedge and Andrew Cawthorne)
