Sucker-punched in the first minute of stoppage time, Saturday’s game felt like a defeat for Liverpool.

Phil Jagielka’s thunderbolt gave Everton just cause to celebrate their smash-and-grab point like it was the end to their ongoing Anfield hoodoo.

After dictating both possession and chances in the 223rd Merseyside derby, Brendan Rodgers’ side must wonder how they failed to notch a 20th Premier League win over their arch-rivals.

Controversy continues to follow this fixture, as Martin Atkinson waved away penalty appeals from both sides — first when Alberto Moreno pulled Romelu Lukaku and then for Gareth Barry, already cautioned for scything down Adam Lallana, blocking a goal-bound Raheem Sterling shot with both arms.

The loss of Kevin Mirallas on the half-hour mark with a hamstring injury disrupted what little rhythm Everton had begun to build. Romelu Lukaku’s long-range efforts failed to trouble, let alone find a way past compatriot Simon Mignolet.

Liverpool have long drawn solace from the adage that form is temporary and class permanent but nowhere has that been more appropriate than for Steven Gerrard.

Now with 10 goals in 32 derby appearances, he is fast becoming as much a bogeyman for Goodison Park as legendary Liverpool striker Ian Rush.

A second half free-kick was a fresh defiance to the near-weekly obituaries of his career and underlined that, at 34, his influence on the biggest stage should continue to never be underestimated.

Mario Balotelli should have increased the gulf further minutes later when he volleyed from a Sterling cross that could only rattle the crossbar. His withdrawal two minutes from the end of normal time, in favour of Rickie Lambert, provided the catalyst for Everton’s fightback.

No longer required to shackle the Italian, John Stones was afforded the freedom to venture forward as Roberto Martinez’s side intensified their previously muted attacking approach.

When Dejan Lovren’s headed clearance from an Aiden McGeady cross broke to Jagielka, the England defender met the ball cleanly and unleashed a shot from 25 yards that soared into the Kop’s net, beyond a sprawling Simon Mignolet.

Martinez hailed his captain’s wonder strike as the best goal he had ever seen live. Anfield, stunned into silence, has not witnessed one quite like that for some time.