Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had to laugh at the ridiculous amount of incident and excitement crammed into a pulsating hour-and-a-half at Goodison Park.

‘Wow, oh goodness. I think my heart’s stopped,’ he said afterward before pausing for breath and adding: ‘That game had everything.’ And so it did. With the arch-pragmatists David Moyes and Kenny Dalglish no longer in charge, the 221st Merseyside derby took on a new lease of life under the new management of Roberto Martinez and Rodgers.

Six goals were shared yet goalkeepers Tim Howard and Simon Mignolet were both outstanding. Everywhere you looked there were heroes and villains or, in Luis Suarez’s case, both.

And those who like their derby days spiky weren’t disappointed either. Kevin Mirallas put in a reckless tackle on Suarez and Sylvain Distin shoved Steven Gerrard after the Liverpool skipper caught Gareth Barry, actually a good friend of his, in the head with a stray elbow. Throw in a yellow card for Ross Barkley for diving, the miss of the season from Joe Allen, a brace for Romelu Lukaku and a last-minute equaliser by substitute Daniel Sturridge and you could understand why Match of the Day producers last night reckoned editing these highlights was the most difficult job they’d ever faced.

Everton and Liverpool both started the day in the top six in something of a mini-Mersey revival. If they keep on performing like this, purists will love to see them stay there.

Liverpool took the lead in the fifth minute through Philippe Coutinho, were pegged back by Mirallas four minutes later, regained it in the 20th via a Suarez free-kick, lost it again with a Lukaku double in the second half and finally salvaged a point when Sturridge brilliantly met Gerrard’s free-kick with a header.

Even that was tinged with controversy with Everton’s dug-out berating the officials. ‘Gerrard used his experience really well,’ said Martinez, who wasn’t being complimentary. ‘He moved the ball to take the free-kick three or four yards closer to the 18-yard box. It gave him a better range of delivery.’

Martinez also complained about Gerrard’s ‘unnatural’ positioning of an elbow to catch Barry but Rodgers finished with the greater grievance after Mirallas stayed on the pitch despite catching Suarez by the side of the knee with a studs-up tackle that left blood trickling down the Uruguayan’s leg.

‘I think he should have been sent off,’ said the Liverpool boss emphatically. ‘That could have ended his career.’ Lunchtime games normally benefit from an early goal and this one did when Coutinho buried Suarez’s flick from a corner with the outside of his boot, only for Mirallas to get in ahead of Gerrard to level four minutes later.

Liverpool went back in front when Suarez — who rushed back from Uruguay after a successful World Cup qualifier — won a free-kick and then buried it past Tim Howard as the Everton wall collapsed. Everton then failed to beat Mignolet three times from one-on-ones — twice from Lukaku and once from substitute Gerard Deulofeu. At the other end Allen missed a sitter from six yards after Suarez had surged into the box to set him up.

Just as Everton were losing heart, Lukaku took centre stage. He levelled when his free-kick was parried by Mignolet and Mirallas squared the rebound for him to drive home.

With seven minutes left, the roof nearly came off Goodison when Mignolet saved from Deulofeu and Lukaku rose above Glen Johnson and John Flanagan to power in a header from the corner. Maybe that’s why Jose Mourinho allowed the big Belgian to go on loan — to damage Chelsea’s title rivals.

But neither team deserved to lose. And that was the case when Gerrard’s free-kick was flicked in by Sturridge, the striker held back by Rodgers until the latter stages after playing 90 minutes for England in midweek despite recently recovering from a leg injury.

‘To come to one of your rivals and play like we did for part of the game and then fall behind, it showed great character and mentality to come back,’ said Rodgers. ‘Today was the way football was meant to be. We had to risk it, gamble and make the game box-to-box when we were 2-1 down. I think we were magnificent and their keeper was deservedly man of the match,’ added Martinez.

Suarez also picked up a yellow card for an outrageous grab on Lukaku when the Everton striker threatened to break. Yet he almost won the game in injury time, a dipping half-volley forcing Howard to make a second world-class save. It was breathless stuff. The next instalment will be at Anfield under floodlights on January 28. Put it in your diary.

—Daily Mail